Shadows of the Empire
by Chris Ganale
Summary: Several months after Tidus' return, Yuna wants nothing more than to live out her days in peace, at Tidus' side. But when a hostile invasion force comes to Spira, she has no choice but to take up her arms and join the rebellion. SWFFX2 crossover
1. Chapter One: The Invasion

Night on Besaid Island was pure and black. With no artificial lighting of any kind to be found on the small island, illumination was provided only by the stars and moon. Nights were also quiet; only fiends and small animals made sound on the island which made no use of machina. On this night, however, there was no sound at all. Silence reigned over the island, shrouding it in the sensation of death and pain.

In a small hut off to the side of the temple, a single emerald green eye opened in the darkness. Without knowing how or why, she felt a terrible feeling of dread washing over her. Something bad was about to happen, or was already happening. She couldn't tell. She only knew that people she cared about were going to be hurt.

Before she could turn to awaken the man she was snuggled tightly up to, a shadow fell across her as the curtain that served as the hut's door parted. She froze where she was, willing her lover to remain motionless, willing this spectre to go away. Narrowing her eyes enough so that she could still see, and hoping that light would not reflect from them, she watched the figure in her doorway.

It was tall, human-shaped, but was wearing some sort of clothing or armor that she had never seen before. This armor, for it did not flow or move like clothing, was a light grey in the starlight, but it appeared to her that it would be white under normal light. It fully concealed the wearer from head to foot.

She knew, without knowing how she knew, that to attack this figure would mean her death. The fact that her guns were on the other side of the hut was only part of it. Squinting in the dimness, she could see that the figure had swept aside the curtain with a black object, vaguely gun-shaped, held in its right hand. She had no idea what the object was, but she dreaded it nonetheless.

_Please go away,_ she mentally begged the figure. _Leave us alone…_

She heard a click, then a mechanically-filtered voice. "This one's clear. Move on to the temple." Then the figure was gone, and the curtain swished closed again.

Releasing her held breath, she slowly turned and placed a hand over her lover's mouth to prevent him from making noise when she woke him up. She leaned over so that her mouth was only inches from his ear and whispered, "Tidus, wake up. Wake up."

She only had to repeat herself twice before he stirred, mumbling incomprehensible words under her hand, looking up at her with questioning eyes. She quickly placed a finger over her own lips to indicate the need for discretion, and when he nodded, she pulled her hand away from his mouth.

"Yuna, what's wrong?" he whispered, so quietly that even she could barely hear him.

"There are men in the village," she responded, annoyed to hear the fearful quiver in her voice. She had turned her back on Yevon, been branded a traitor, destroyed Sin, held two warring factions of Spira together, destroyed a machina weapon bent on vaporizing the planet, and put to rest the despairing souls of two star-crossed lovers. Compared to _that_ resume, a few ghostly-armored men with strange weapons shouldn't even phase her. But for some reason, the thought of facing those armored men terrified her.

Tidus knew she was afraid. He knew instinctively that those men she mentioned were there for no good. He rolled over and laid his hand on the Brotherhood, the sword that Yuna kept for him from two years earlier. Before he could lift it from the shelf, however, he felt Yuna's hand come down on his, and he looked over at her. She was shaking her head at him, and he nodded slowly.

"No. You'll die if you fight them. We have to escape."

He nodded slowly, then slid to the far side of the bed and moved into a crouch. He immediately began moving around the hut, tossing clothes and essential items into a pack. He laid the Brotherhood on their bed; it would be the last thing he grabbed before they departed.

For her part, Yuna first crossed the floor of the hut, taking care to stay to the shadows, and pulled her gun belt from its shelf before wrapping it around her waist and tightening it in place. She did not want to use them; any shot she fired would be heard from clear across the island. Quickly pulling on her half-skirt, she filled the pouches of her belt with items and ammunition, then pulled on and tied her shirt. Her armbands were stuffed between her belt and her shorts; she didn't have time to deal with them.

In about two minutes, the two of them had gathered what they needed. Picking up the Brotherhood off the bed, Tidus wordlessly approached the back of the hut where two sections of the fabric used to cover it met with a seam. As quietly and carefully as possible, he pierced the sharp tip of his sword through the seam and cut through it, slicing it open enough for the two of them to duck through and escape into the nearby woods.

Pausing only long enough to give Yuna a quick kiss, Tidus stepped out of the hut and looked around. So far, so good. There was no one in sight, and the trees were just ten feet ahead of him. Turning around, he nodded to Yuna to come out; they were almost home free.

To his left, a twig snapped, and a mechanically-filtered voice reached him. "You there! Stop!"

Without thinking twice, Tidus crossed his arms over his chest, closed his eyes, and felt the familiar energy flowing to the tips of his fingers. He gestured with his left hand toward the bone white-armored man, who froze in place as Tidus completed the Stop spell.

Yuna emerged from the hut just in time to see the man frozen, and she looked up at Tidus, who nodded and gestured toward the trees. Nodding in return, the two of them took off for the forest.

Behind them, the Stop spell was just wearing off, and they could hear the voice call out "Blast them!"

And suddenly the night around them was lit up with the scream of weapons discharge, and the red bolts crashing into the woods all around them, blinding them with their brightness, and setting the trees on fire. But they were deep enough into the woods that none of the bolts came anywhere near them.

They continued to run for what seemed like hours, until they were deep within Besaid's forests and they were certain that they had lost their pursuers. Gasping for breath, Yuna dropped to her knees on the moist soil as Tidus leaned against a nearby tree, also panting.

"What… what were those?" he croaked.

"I don't… I don't know," she gasped, gulping in air as fast as she could. "I've never seen anything like them before. Their weapons, either. It looked like they were shooting fire magic."

Tidus shook his head in reply, then opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, a chilling mechanical roar cut through the air, vibrating them straight down to their core. They both looked straight up to see four pairs of blue ovals passing overhead; the ovals appeared to be engines of some kind.

Standing and bringing her hand up to her brow to shield her eyes, Yuna squinted, and could just barely make out a ball shape with two vertical wings attached to either side by stubby pylons. The vehicles, whatever they were, were extremely hard to make out due to their dark color.

As the four vehicles disappeared behind a hill, Yuna looked down to Tidus, an expression of worry on her face. The only logical explanation that either of them could come up with, was that Spira was being invaded by some outside force.


	2. Chapter Two: First Resistance

Baralai stood at the windows of his office, staring out sadly at the occupation force that had taken over Bevelle and, presumably, the rest of Spira. Hundreds of the white-clad troopers were marching around the floating city, ordering the civilians to move along, and arresting anyone who they deemed suspicious.

The sky was also filled with signs of their presence. Dozens of the dark grey fighter craft flew back and forth over the city, their technology obviously far beyond anything seen in Spira for a thousand years. And craning his neck back, Baralai could see an arrowhead-shaped vehicle high up in the sky, presumably in orbit around the planet.

_To have space flight technology,_ he mused. _Even if the people of Spira could cast aside their fear of machina and fully research it, we couldn't hope to achieve space flight for another hundred years or so._

"It is truly a shame," he muttered, not caring if the two white-clad 'guards' standing inside the door could hear him or not, "that such technology comes to us in the form of an occupation."

Behind him, he could hear the clattering of the soldiers' armor as they came to attention, just moments before the ornate wooden doors swung open. The next sound to reach his ears was that of laborious, mechanical breathing. Baralai turned slowly, intending to present an image of strength to the leader of these mysterious invaders. But as he laid eyes upon the owner of that mechanical breathing, he knew that any effort to that extent would be for naught.

Clad entirely in black, from the top of his reflective domed helmet to the bottom of his shined boots, the figure towered over Baralai. There was not an inch of this man's skin that was exposed to the outside air, and he accented his armor with a black cape that billowed behind him as he moved.

He was obviously very important to these invaders; half a dozen of his white-armored soldiers followed behind him. Inwardly, Baralai scowled at having to see more of them in his office.

"You are Baralai, praetor of New Yevon," the man said in a deep, resonant, mechanical voice. It was not a question.

"Yes, I am," Baralai answered, and said no more.

"You may address me as Lord Vader. I am placing this planet under the occupation of the Galactic Empire."

'_Galactic' Empire?_ Baralai wondered. _I guess you happen to stumble upon these things when your technology has consisted of little more than blitzball stadiums for the past thousand years._

"I see," Baralai said, nodding slowly. "What is to become of the people of Spira?"

"So long as they do not resist our occupation, they will not be harmed," Vader answered. "I trust that we will not have to instill your cooperation."

_As if I have to be reminded of how easily your troopers cut down the Praetorate Guard, the best of Yevon's soldiers. I doubt the Youth League fared any better than we did…_

"No, that will not be necessary," Baralai said slowly. "I will contact the representatives of the other nations and inform them that cooperation is the best choice."

"A wise choice, Praetor Baralai." Vader closed a tight fist as he spoke, and Baralai felt just the slightest pressure against his throat, which vanished as soon as Vader opened his hand. Baralai did not know what Vader had done, but it was obviously a not-so-veiled threat that he wouldn't last long if he intended to resist.

"I trust it is one that will keep the people of Spira safe."

"It is indeed, Praetor Baralai." Vader turned with a theatrical swirl of his cape, and headed toward the door. "I look forward to our next meeting."

In a few moments, Vader and his heavy mechanical breathing were gone. Baralai moved over to his desk and fell into his seat, sagging slightly. These were dark times for Spira, even darker than the thousand years of Sin's tyranny. He knew that the people of Spira would rather die than be occupied by this Empire.

_But if we were to resist, then it would mean the death of Spira. Their storm troopers would kill each and every one of us, down to the last man, Guado, Ronso, or Al Bhed…_

Sighing heavily, Baralai reached over and activated the direct-link comm system that he used for communication with Nooj and Gippal, leaders of the Youth League and Machine Faction, respectively. He would call Nooj first; with the older man's help, he would have an easier time getting the hot-headed Al Bhed leader to go along with this occupation.

_That's not to say we won't fight them eventually, but not now. We don't have anything we can fight them with._

---

Djose Temple was a scene of chaos. Bodies were scattered all over the temple grounds, both belonging to the Empire's troops, and to the Al Bhed who were in ownership of the temple. The bodies of the Empire's troops were all afflicted with various signs of magical assault, and the blunt damage of rampaging machina. The Al Bhed bodies, on the other hand, all had wounds in the torsos and heads that were largely holes in their bodies, with crusted flesh around the edges. The stink of charred flesh was heavy in the air. Ruined machina, with heavy scoring on their metal shells, also were scattered around.

The young blonde girl drew to a halt just outside the temple grounds, staring in horror at the devastation before her. She could hear shouting from inside the temple, both in Basic and Al Bhed, and she could hear shooting as well, both of the machina weapons that the Al Bhed favored, and the strange weapons that the Empire's soldiers used.

Making her way across the courtyard, she knelt by the white-armored body of one of the Empire's troops. The man's chest plate was warped and blackened, and crushed by heavy pressure. She figured that this man had been killed by Gippal's distinctive mortar-launcher weapon. Rolling the body over, she picked up the black weapon that he had fallen upon, and looked it over.

It was configured like most other machina weapons she had seen; a grip to hold, a trigger, and the barrel from which the weapon fired. Turning it over in her hand, she pointed it toward the wall of the temple and pulled the trigger. The weapon kicked in her arms, and a bright bolt of red light shot out and slammed into the side of the temple, sending small fragments of building material flying in all directions.

Standing up, she moved around to the back side of the temple, where she knew of a secret entrance that led directly into the Cloister of Trials. Entering by the front, which she was pretty sure that the white-armored troops controlled, would be suicide. Carefully sneaking around to make sure she wasn't seen, she crouched by what seemed to be nothing more than a random extension of the outer wall.

Placing the stolen weapon on the ground, she got her fingers into the seam between the extension and the wall, and pulled backwards. With a dull screeching sound, the extension slid away, revealing a tiny crawlspace that lead into the pit in the back of the Cloister of Trials. She picked up the weapon again and slipped inside, pulling the secret trapdoor shut behind her.

She climbed to her feet inside the pit, then walked toward the wall and peeked over the top. There were three of the white-armored troops standing near the elevator access up to the upper floor. She thought for a moment about shooting them, then shook her head. They'd burn her down before she could get two of them.

Ducking back down, she looked into the pit around her. There were a few grenades laying around amongst the wrecked machina. Smiling, she put down the stolen weapon and picked up two grenades. She pulled the pin out on one of them, then peeked back out to see how close together the troops were. She pulled out the pin on the second one, then rolled them both toward the three soldiers, hoping that the explosions wouldn't damage the elevator.

A moment later she heard one of the soldiers call, "Grenade, grenade!"

Then the two grenades exploded, and she heard the clattering of armor against the floor or walls of the cloister. Tossing the weapon up over the edge of the pit, she pulled herself up and out, then picked the weapon up and ran toward the elevator.

As she stood on it and waited for it to rise up, she saw one of the soldiers begin to sit up and bring his weapon to bear on her. She quickly swung her own appropriated weapon and fired, the red energy bolt burning a black hole through the soldier's chest plate, dropping him back to the floor. Then the elevator carried her up beyond the first floor.

The very moment that the elevator stopped on the second floor, she found the barrels of a dozen Al Bhed machina guns and a handful of weapons like hers pointed directly at her. Meekly, she raised her hands, until the Al Bhed realized that she was not one of the enemy troops.

The dozen or so Al Bhed immediately moved away, allowing her to get into the area. One of the Al Bhed standing nearby gestured toward the stairway up toward the Chamber of the Fayth with his rifle. Nodding her thanks, she made her way up the stairs, her stolen weapon still in hand.

At the top, in the antechamber outside the Chamber of the Fayth, she found Gippal conferring with several of his lieutenants. His mortar launcher rested against the wall; he held a weapon he had stolen from the white-armored enemies downstairs in his hands.

"Ev ed lusac tufh du ed," Gippal spoke, in Al Bhed, "fa femm tacdnuo dra temple du gaab dras vnus kaddehk dra calnadc uv uin machina."

"Destroy the temple!?" she repeated, shocked.

Gippal spun around, and smirked slightly. "Well, well, if it isn't Cid's girl."

She growled. "We don't have time for the games! What were you thinking, fighting against those guys?"

He waved it off, then stepped over to the windows overlooking the temple grounds. "We're holding them off."

"But they can bring more! And they don't even need to do that. You saw that thing up in the sky, right? They can probably get it to destroy this temple, with you still in it!"

Gippal spun around to face her, anger and determination evident on his face. "What do you expect me to do, Rikku? These guys didn't come here to buy a machina or have tea with us. They came here expecting to take us over and destroy our way of life. I, for one, do not intend to let them."

"This isn't the time to fight, Gippal!" Her voice softened, and dropped several notches. "If you stay here and try to hold them off, they'll kill you."

"Then what do you suggest I do? Abandon them all?" His gesture took in the Al Bhed standing in the room with them, as well as those downstairs. "Leave them all here to die?"

"Gippal," one of his lieutenants said. "Rikku ec nekrd. Ev oui cdyo rana, drao femm gemm oui. Fa femm rumt dras uvv frema oui aclyba. Dra Machine Faction haatc oui du cinjeja. Fa yna ymm aqbahtypma."

Nodding, Gippal patted the man's shoulder, then handed him the stolen weapon. He then picked up his mortar launcher and turned to Rikku. "We can hide out in the hills for a few days until they get tired of this place. Then we'll try to get away."

Rikku nodded, and they approached the windows facing the hills behind the temple. Smashing one open with the butt of the launcher, Gippal tossed the weapon out to the ground below, then turned and climbed down the rough-sided walls of the temple. Not bothering with that, Rikku simply jumped out the window, landing nimbly on her feet.

The two of them made their way up into the hills as the sounds of fire from within the temple reached them through the broken window. Just before cresting a hill and putting the temple out of sight behind them, Gippal turned and looked back toward it, nodding once in salute to his comrades still within.

"Syo oui veht ouin bayla fedr dra gods," he said, then crested the hill and left the war behind.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Translations:**

"If it comes down to it, we will destroy the temple to keep them from getting the secrets of our machina."

"Gippal, Rikku is right. If you stay here, they will kill you. We will hold them off while you escape. The Machine Faction needs you to survive. We are all expendable."

"May you find your peace with the gods."

** Shout-out section:**

**Raven:** Of course.

**Newsreporter:** Spammers need not apply.

**Bree-2006:** Ask and ye shall receive.

**Morgaine of the Fairies:** Well, I am known for my hair-brained schemes and ideas.

**Furitaurus: **Once more, ask and ye shall receive. This chapter originally called for a sequence on Mt. Gagazet, but I ran out of ideas for that one, so I moved along to Djose Temple and the Machine Faction instead.


	3. Chapter Three: The Occupation

Nooj, meyvn of the Youth League, reflected sadly on the times as he stared out across the vast expanses of the Calm Lands. He had known, as soon as the white-armored troops had arrived at Mushroom Rock Road, that Spira was in for hard times. The majority of the Youth League had fled their headquarters up on the mountain and scattered to all corners of Spira. One small group had stayed behind, intending to lead the invading troops directly into the Den of Woe, gambling on the hope that Shuyin's despair still filled the dark and fetid cave.

No word had come of that venture, but that gave Nooj a small amount of hope. If there was enough despair remaining in the Den of Woe to get the invaders to kill each other, then his men would also be dead at the hands of their comrades.

Nooj had chosen the Calm Lands as his hiding place for one simple tactical advantage: it was flat, open terrain, and one could see from one side of it to the other. Because of that, he would always have warning if the white-armored invaders made their way into the Calm Lands. And he knew of many places around and under the Calm Lands that he could hide out as long as necessary.

He had been hiding out in the Calm Lands for nearly two weeks now, and in that time, the Empire had taken total control of Spira. One could not look out their window without seeing at least five of the Empire's stormtroopers, as Nooj had heard them called. There were garrisons in every town and along all the roads, and they were closely monitoring all ships moving around Spira. The meager amount of airship travel that Spira had attained had all been grounded by the Empire and its extremely-fast fighters.

The only places that the Empire didn't have control over were Zanarkand and Bikanel Island. Apparently, the Holy Ruins of Zanarkand did not rate enough military value to be guarded by the Empire, and they had deemed the ruins of the Al Bhed Home to be of equal unimportance. Nooj shook his head slowly as he recalled the whispered tales of the fierce fighting on Mt. Gagazet. It had taken an entire week, cost the Empire several dozen stormtroopers, but the Ronso had been all but eliminated.

"A proud warrior race," Nooj said aloud. "What a shame."

He thought back to how he had been told that the Empire was keeping a close watch on all ships moving back and forth between the mainland of Spira and the various islands, especially Besaid. The fact that they paying such scrutiny made it obvious that they were desperately searching for something.

_Or someone, maybe…_ Nooj's eyes widened. _Yuna!? Are they after Yuna? Why? She doesn't even have an active public role in anything. But then again, she is the High Summoner. She's a symbol to the people. If the Empire knew that, it would make sense that they'd want to get their hands on her as quickly as possible._

He nodded slowly, leaning against the outside wall of Clasko's chocobo ranch that he was currently hiding out in. _Having complete military dominance of Spira is one thing, but if they had Yuna in their grasp, they could hold her as a hostage to ensure that Spira wouldn't dare go against them. If they killed Yuna, Spira would go into a panic. That would make it harder for them to maintain control, so they have to ride a very fine line here._

The chilling roar of the engines on the Empire's fighters drew Nooj's attention toward the sky, and he smirked slightly as he saw four of the little fighters flying a grid pattern over the Calm Lands.

_Looking for me again. That means it's time to head back inside._

Picking up his cane from the ground beside him, he turned around and stiff-legged his way back into the chocobo ranch. Nooj did not know it, but the presence of all the chocobos wrought havoc with the fighters' biological sensors, rendering them unable to pinpoint him.

---

Yuna spun around, aiming her guns toward the origin of the scuffling sound around the corner. She quickly relaxed and pointed her weapons to the side when she saw that it was only Tidus, returning with food that Wakka had slipped him from the village.

"Sorry I startled you," he said sheepishly, laying the wrapped parcel of food down on the cavern floor. "I'll remember to call out next time."

"It's okay," Yuna replied softly, sliding over and leaning against Tidus' side. "So how was everyone?"

He slipped his left arm around her shoulders as he unwrapped the parcel with his free hand and looked over the various meats, bread, and fruits that Wakka had secreted for them.

"They're doing okay, I guess. I only saw a few stormtroopers in the village. Wakka said that they mostly concentrate on watching the docks. He thinks they're looking for us."

"'Stormtroopers?'" she repeated, looking up at him with her bi-colored eyes.

"Yeah, that's what the guards are called. Imperial stormtroopers, Wakka said. According to him, they haven't done a whole lot to interfere with the regular village activities. They just wander around and keep watch, making sure that nobody is trying to rise up against this Empire that's moved in."

Yuna shivered slightly, and huddled closer to Tidus. "How bad is it?"

"Well, you have to keep in mind that what Wakka tells me is coming straight from the mouths of the stormtroopers." Tidus sighed; the news he had would not be good. "They control more or less all of Spira. There have been a few uprisings, namely by the Youth League and the Machine Faction. Both groups have been completely wiped out."

He paused, looking closely at her. It was unnecessary; she was shocked, her eyes wide in fear and disbelief, and her hands covering her mouth. He shifted his hand that was around her shoulders to gently rub her back.

"Go on," she whispered, knowing that he had more to tell.

"When they tried to get over Mt. Gagazet to the Zanarkand Ruins, the Ronso wouldn't let them pass."

Yuna gasped, almost knowing where this was going.

"It took a week," Tidus said, haltingly, clenching his free hand into a fist. "The Empire lost dozens of stormtroopers. Finally, they decided that fighting on the ground would be too costly. They must've called their big ship up in the sky. The stormtroopers told Wakka that they used a tactic called orbital bombardment. It's where the ship fires all its turbolasers down on a target until there's nothing left."

"Turbolasers," Yuna said. "Like the fire that they were shooting at us when we got away?"

"Those are called blasters," Tidus replied. "And yes, turbolasers are like that, but apparently several hundred times stronger." He looked toward her again, and saw the tears streaking down her face. "The stormtroopers said that they completely wiped out the Ronso."

Yuna nodded dully, recalling the sharp pain she had felt in her heart a week ago, at the time of this reputed bombardment. She hadn't understood it at the time, but now she somehow knew that her pain was related to the deaths of the Ronso.

"Not completely," she said, almost too quiet to hear.

"Yuna?"

She turned her tear-streaked face toward her lover and smiled painfully. "They didn't kill all the Ronso. Kimahri is still alive."

"How do you know?" he asked, his voice curious, not accusing.

"I don't know. I just do. I feel it, in my heart."

He nodded slightly, then wrapped both his arms around her and hugged her tightly to him. As he did so, she tightly gripped the fabric of his shirt and leaned into him, comforted by his presence.

They would fight; he knew it. Yuna would not take the suffering of Spira's people lying down. She would take some time to get over the shock of everything happening so fast, and then she would be the first to take up her guns and fight. Tidus would be a close second, Brotherhood in hand and staying at Yuna's side.

But not today. For today, they would simply give silent thanks to the fact that they had not yet been discovered. For now, they could simply enjoy the fact that they were together, and alive. The time for fighting would come soon enough. For now, they knew only each other.


	4. Chapter Four: Fomenting Rebellion

The silent expanse of space suddenly shattered into bright light as the sleek fighter shot out of hyperspace, its s-foils closed in the dormant cruise configuration. The Incom T-65 X-wing rolled up on its starboard s-foil, angling toward Spira's gravity well. Beyond the curve of the planet, in orbit between it and Spira's large moon, hung the Super Star Destroyer _Executor_.

Inside the cockpit, the pilot felt his blood run cold. _Vader's personal flagship. This is not going to be an easy mission._ He reached over his left shoulder and flipped a switch, feeling the gentle thrum through the fighter as the s-foils locked into their distinctive position that gave the X-wing its name. _Then again, I never did put my faith in the trust of an easy mission._

He reached forward with his left hand and activated the miniature hypercomm system that had been installed on the X-wing, costing more than the X-wing itself had. "This is Arren Vale calling Rebel Command. I've entered the Spiran system and am making my approach to the planet now. I've located the Super Star Destroyer _Executor_ in orbit around the planet. It doesn't seem to be affected by the gravitic anomalies around Spira."

As he spoke, a heavy shudder ran through his X-wing, as though caught in a tractor beam, and his speed increased slightly. Instinctively, he tugged back on the stick, but the X-wing's nose only rose slightly. He fought down the panic, clenching his hand tightly on the control stick. Spira's distorted gravity well would draw him down to its surface whether he liked it or not. He had known, going into this mission, that he would not be going home, one way or another.

Shaking off his anxiety, he continued transmitting. "I've just been taken in by the gravitational forces. I expect to be making a landing in a few minutes."

With that, he switched off the hypercomm system and brought up the X-wing's shields. Without the option of reducing his speed, Spira's atmosphere would disintegrate his snubfighter with its shields down. And he'd also get some minor defense against whatever anti-air batteries that the Empire had constructed since they'd taken over.

The world of Spira grew in his forward viewports until it blocked out the rest of the universe. He brought his nose up the best he could, angling most of the ship's shield power toward its ventral side, the side that would take the brunt of the atmosphere.

As the heat of the atmosphere started to spark fire off his forward shields, he looked out the viewport at the world below him. He could see no signs of technology from his position high in the atmosphere. The entire world looked clean and peaceful. He slowly shook his head.

_Shame that the Empire had to come and ruin it._

He angled his X-wing down toward the vast plains near the northern mountains, glancing as he did so at a data readout given to him at the start of the mission. The Calm Lands. That was the name of those plains he was heading toward. He'd have to find out why they were called that once he was on-planet. After all, he would be living out the rest of his days on that planet, assuming that he even survived the rebellion he was going to provoke.

A muffled bang reached him as his X-wing rocked violently, and alert sirens began blaring in the cockpit. Swearing, he silenced them with the press of a button and looked over the diagnostics display.

"Damn. Lost acceleration control. This isn't going to be a pretty landing."

He began feeding power into the repulsorlifts and test-firing his braking thrusters, making sure they still worked properly. They did, so he angled his X-wing toward the cliff beyond the Calm Lands, trying to get as much time to bleed off speed as he possibly could.

The atmosphere was behind him now; the flames burning on his ship's shields long since gone. He fired his braking thrusters at full power, only to hear another bang and have more red appear on his diagnostics display. He spared them a glance; he had blown out his braking thrusters.

"This is going to be a _very_ bad landing…"

---

Nooj looked up toward the sky as a second sonic boom echoed over the Calm Lands. He had made his way toward the entrance of the chocobo ranch as soon as he had heard the first one, wondering if the Empire had finally resorted to bombing the Calm Lands in an attempt to spook him out of hiding.

He raised an eyebrow at what he saw up in the sky. _Or maybe someone else has been on the receiving end of the Empire's tender care?_

About a thousand feet above the ground, he saw a strange craft with split wings flying haphazardly over the Calm Lands, its entire aft end in flames. The vehicle's aft end slewed to the right, and he could see that the four wings, two on each side of the craft, made the distinctive pattern of an X.

As he watched, the craft bounced skyward as it reached the edge of the cliff, another explosion blossomed off of its underside, and then it disappeared over the lip of the cliff on the western edge of the Calm Lands. Moments later, a loud crash reached his ears, indicating that the craft had 'landed.'

Turning around, he stiff-legged his way back inside and into the first alcove, where Clasko's living area was located. The former Chocobo Knight looked up as Nooj entered.

"What was that sound?" he asked. "Sounded like something crashing."

Nooj nodded slowly. "Something did crash. I'm going to take a chocobo and investigate. Okay?"

Clasko nodded and motioned toward the chocobo corrals, where the tweeting and preening of the chocobos could be heard. "Go ahead. Take any one you like."

Nodding, Nooj left his cane against the wall of the alcove and limped lightly toward the corrals.

---

Consciousness returned slowly and painfully to Arren. He found himself lying in short grass at the edge of a cliff, staring out over a vast valley. Somewhere down in that valley, something was on fire; he could see a thick black plume of smoke rising up from below.

Where was he? He painfully rolled over onto his back, and saw that he was wearing his orange flight suit. Well, it was a start. He had been flying. Had been? Where was his X-wing?

As he looked out toward the mountains on his left side, he recalled his current mission. Ah yes, that's right. He was in the Calm Lands. And that plume of smoke was probably his X-wing.

He pushed himself into a kneeling position, then tried to stand. His right leg stubbornly refused to support his weight. Flopping back onto the grass, he looked at his leg. It didn't _look_ broken. Probably just twisted in the fall.

Laying back against a rock, he closed his eyes as those last few frantic moments in the cockpit came back to him. Seeing that he was dangerously close to scraping his keel on the edge of the cliff, he'd activated his repulsorlifts at full power to bounce him a few meters up into the air. That had succeeded, but the repulsorlift generator had exploded seconds later and he knew that he would not be able to bring the craft down survivably.

So he had done the only thing he could have. He'd yanked the boxy hypercomm system out of his communications console, yanked the ejection lever, and kept as tight a grip on that box as he possibly could.

Sitting up, he looked around for the hypercomm. He spotted it in the grass a few feet away and crawled over to it. Aside from a dented corner where it had presumably landed, and some scorching on one side where he'd ripped it from the consoles, it was unharmed. He checked the emergency antenna built into it, saw that it was unharmed, and nodded slowly.

A second later, he heard a small _'wark'_ sound and turned in the direction it came from. Approaching from a short distance was a large yellow bird with a man riding on its back. The man held an odd-looking gun in his hand, pointed straight at Arren. He thought about going for his blaster pistol, decided better of it, and simply raised his hands meekly.

The mounted man pulled his bird to a stop right beside Arren, the weapon not swaying from its target. "Are you with the Empire?" the man asked, simply.

Blinking slowly, Arren shook his head, then realized that this man was a local, and probably had not even seen TIE fighter pilots, much less Rebel pilots. "No. Are you?"

The man shook his head and lowered the weapon. "I am Nooj. Meyvn of the Youth League."

Arren blinked, the name slightly familiar to him. Dropping his hands, he reached into one of the pockets on his flight suit and pulled out a datapad, calling up all the information he had been given about Spira. He nodded after reading the entry about the Youth League.

"Good," Arren said. "You're one of the ones I'm supposed to contact."

Nooj looked skeptical. "'Supposed to contact?' Who are you, and who are you with? Spira has seen enough offworlders, in my opinion."

"My name is Arren Vale. I'm a pilot for the Rebel Alliance. We are the enemies of the Empire that has taken over your planet. My mission is to organize and arm a rebellion on Spira to overthrow the Empire."

Nooj's expression didn't change. "We stand no chance against them. Their armor repels all our small-arms weapons, and theirs burn through our armor as though it wasn't there."

Arren looked down at his datapad again, scrolling to his mission parameters. "There are supposed to be crashed Republic ships on this planet. They should have the weapons we need to fight the Empire."

"Even if that were true, we couldn't organize. Bevelle has been taken completely over by the Empire. The Djose temple is no more, and Besaid is under martial law. There is no way we could contact the leaders and political figures of Spira in order to organize this resistance."

Arren sighed and looked down at the ground. It was looking more and more that he wouldn't be living his life out on Spira. He'd end up dead at the hands of the Empire.

As if seeming to sense his thoughts, Nooj offered a hand down to Arren. "Come on, we need to get you into a hiding place. The Empire will be all over the Calm Lands before long."

Once again, Arren tried to stand, but slipped back toward the ground. Before he could hit it, however, Nooj's mount stooped and the man caught him by the fabric of his flight suit collar. "Are you injured?" he asked simply.

"I think I twisted my leg when I landed," Arren replied, nodding. He turned and nodded toward the hypercomm box. "I need to take that with me."

Not bothering to ask what it was, Nooj pulled Arren up behind him on his mount, then guided it over to the hypercomm and once more had the bird stoop down, allowing Nooj to scoop the box off the ground and hand it to him.

Nodding his thanks, Arren wedged the box between Nooj and himself, then grabbed onto Nooj so he wouldn't be thrown from where he sat. Once he was secure, he nodded to Nooj, who clicked his teeth at his mount and sent it racing off toward the mountains.

For a long while, neither of them spoke. Arren took the time to look at the flat plains around him, seeing off in the distance a tent that had people wandering around it, and scattered around this section of the plains, large numbers of rock formations jutting up from the ground. He was about to ask about them when Nooj spoke up first.

"So just who is it that you're supposed to be meeting with? Aside from myself, of course."

Arren didn't need to look at his datapad; he'd already committed the names to memory. "The leaders of the Youth League, New Yevon, and the Machine Faction. That would be you, Baralai, and Gippal, if our information is correct. More importantly than them, however, is that I'm supposed to deliver a holorecording to a Yuna."

Nooj's face was turned away from Arren, but the Rebel pilot sensed a tightening of his voice. "What is it that the Rebel Alliance wants with Lady Yuna?"

_So this Yuna is a woman. It sounded like a woman's name, sure, but now I know it. What _does_ the Rebellion want with her?_

He shook his head. "I don't know. I was under strict orders not to view the recording."

"I see," Nooj said, after a few moments. "I wish you luck in that endeavor. Nothing enters or leaves Besaid, where she lives, without the Empire knowing about it."

"Well, there will be shortly," Arren answered.

Nooj didn't respond, instead continuing to guide the bird through a mountain pass, across a bridge, and then down a pathway into a gorge. Ahead of them, Arren saw a large hole leading directly into the ground. Nooj pulled his mount to a halt in front of it, then climbed off. Helping Arren down, he allowed the Rebel to lean against him.

"What is this place?" Arren asked.

"This is the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth," Nooj replied, not understanding that Arren had no clue what a fayth was. "There are many fiends inside. We will have to be careful, but I think it will be some time before the Empire discovers this place. It is safe for now."

Arren looked dubious at the mention of fiends, having some idea that he meant monsters, but realized that he did need a place to hide from the Empire's stormtroopers. Putting on a game smile, he motioned toward the entrance of the cavern. "Well, let's go, and discuss our plans of a rebellion."

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**A/N:** Yeah, this was a pretty boring chapter, but you have to introduce your Rebel somewhere. It can't be Star Wars with just the Empire and no Rebels, after all. Thanks to Nick Fall for the information about the hypercomm system, and for suffering through my endless questions. By the way; Star Wars, Final Fantasy, and all its affiliates are copyright their respective owners. The only thing that belongs to me is the character Arren Vale.

And now, shout-out time.

**Raven:** Sorry dude, but like I said, this chapter is kinda drab.

**Rik:** I'm really gonna try to finish this one. I have a lot of plot ideas and sneaky tricks up my sleeve that I'd be really disappointed if I didn't get to pull.

**Master and Chief:** Well, not going to use Doom3 weapons, since I've never played any Doom game, and they're not gonna find their toys on Bikanel Island. I think our Rebel friend Arren revealed where their munitions are going to come from. You did kind of inspire that idea, though. I was really scrounging for some way to arm them with blasters, and your idea helped.

**Wolfy16:** Hey, I've gotten up to chapter four with no signs of slowing down. That's a new record!

**Morgaine of the Fairies:** Worry not, you shall see more of Tidus in the next chapter. Plots will be revealed, tempers will flare, people will almost get blasted! :o


	5. Chapter Five: Yuna's Revelation

This will be the most shocking chapter yet of _Shadows of the Empire_. It's also, without doubt, the longest. So brace yourselves, kids!

Just a little info: the song that Yuna is singing at the start of this chapter is from an FFX-2 music video called "Fly on the Wings of Love." I don't quite remember where I downloaded it. It may have been from , but I'm not sure about that. It's a very good AMV, and it perfectly fits Yuna and Tidus' relationship in my opinion.

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Weeks passed since the occupation of the Empire.

Yuna smiled lightly as she stared dreamily into the fire at the back of the cavern where she, Rikku, and Paine had discovered a sphere several months earlier. She couldn't explain why she felt so happy, she just knew that she felt an incredible sensation of hope swelling up in her chest.

It made no sense, she knew. The Empire had been tightening its grasp over Spira for the last few weeks, and the people were starting to be miserable. She ached to be out of that dingy cave and helping the people, but her happiness could not be weighed down by the events.

Sighing happily, she stretched her body out fully and leaned back against the cave's wall, staring up at the ceiling with a fool's smile on her face. Ever since she had awakened, there had been a song stuck in her head that made her think of Tidus. Even though thinking of him always made her happy, she knew that it was not the entire reason why she felt so good.

"Fly on the wings of love," she sang happily, not knowing how she could sing a song she had never heard in her entire life. "Fly baby, fly. Reaching the stars above… Touching the sky…"

She stood up suddenly, clasping her hands together over her heart as the sudden desire to sing and dance overcame her. Spinning around gracefully in the small area, she couldn't help but giggle as the silliness of what she was doing got through to her. But she didn't stop dancing, not for a moment.

"And as time goes by, there's a lot to try. And I'm feeling lucky, oh yeah." She paused in her carefree dancing, staring dreamily down to the hard cavern floor as she swung slowly in place. "In the softest sand, smiling hand in hand. Love is all around me…"

"There's just one more thing I'd like to add," she sang, holding up one finger as though she was speaking to someone in conversation, then swung her other arm out to her side in a grand gesture. "He's the greatest love I've ever had!

"Fly on the wings of love," she began to repeat, smiling widely. She felt as though this song she was singing had been written specifically for Tidus and herself. "Fly baby, fly! Reaching the stars above, and touching the sky…"

"Is that another one of Lenne's songs?" Tidus voice asked from behind her.

She spun around suddenly, feeling heat rush to her face as she realized that she had an audience. Smiling sheepishly, she clasped her hands behind her back and swayed softly in place. "Maybe," she said quietly, then looked up into his eyes. "But I want to think of it as our song," she added with a nod.

He laughed softly and walked across the small space to her, pulling her into a gentle hug as he kissed her forehead. "Then it is our song," he declared. "But only on one condition."

Blinking her bi-colored eyes up at him, she tilted her head to the side questioningly. "What's that?"

"You gotta sing it for me when this is all over," he said matter-of-factly, a smug expression on his face.

"Okay," she answered with a smile and a nod. She looked at him a moment longer, then said with a giggle, "I'll sing for you in front of the whole village!"

He pulled back just enough to stare at her grinning face, with a shocked expression on his own. "Wow! You sure aren't shy anymore, are you?"

She looked down to the floor of the cavern and smiled sheepishly again. "Well, maybe just a little. But it's just our village, and not all of Spira. I don't feel as shy if it's just Besaid. Everyone knows me, and knows you. And I want them all to know how much I love you."

Looking back up at him, she thought she saw a faint sheen over his eyes, but before she could tease him about it, he pulled her into a tight hug and whispered into her ear, "I love you, Yuna."

Smiling, she wrapped her arms around him, feeling his muscled back against her fingers through the fabric of his yellow shirt. "I love you too," she whispered.

They stood there, wrapped together, for several long moments, until he finally stepped back and reached into his pocket. "I almost forgot, Wakka said that this arrived for you, from Nooj." As he finished his statement, he withdrew an orange sphere from his pocket and handed it over to her.

"From Nooj?" she asked, turning the sphere over in her hands. "So the Empire hasn't gotten him yet…"

"At least, not before this sphere was recorded," Tidus added, truthfully.

She nodded, not wanting to think about that. Forcing a smile, she hefted the sphere in her hand. "Well, let's see what he has to say."

Tidus nodded, and she gave the sphere a gentle squeeze in a particular way, triggering the playback function. She then held the sphere out so Tidus could see.

The flickering image that materialized was of a darkened room, and she could see pyreflies floating in the background. Looking closer, the room appeared to be of natural make, not man-made. The only place she could think of that looked that way was the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth. She glanced up at Tidus, saw he had realized the same thing, then looked back down the sphere as Nooj's face appeared in the image.

"_Lady Yuna, greetings,"_ the recorded voice said. _"If you are watching this sphere, then I trust that you are still safe and free, as am I. Just recently, the Calm Lands have had a most interesting visitor. He says he brings an important message for you. As we realized that a sphere traveling from the Calm Lands to Besaid would garner much less attention than myself or he approaching you in person, we decided to record the message onto this sphere to be sent to you."_

Nooj looked away from the sphere's viewing area, and nodded to someone offscreen. A clicking sound was heard from the same direction, and Nooj turned the spherecamera to the right.

She could see a man standing before the sphere, wearing dark clothing. The spherecamera wasn't focused on him, however, but on what he was holding. It was a small object, circular, silver, with what looked like small vents on the top of it. However, it became obvious as an image appeared hovering in the air over the object that it was similar to a sphere.

This image that was being recorded for her was of a young man, clad in dark robes, wearing a serious, yet pleased, expression on his face. The image was in a washed-out blue, so she couldn't tell the color of his hair or eyes.

"_I presume that I am addressing the High Summoner Yuna,"_ the man spoke in a soft voice that, much like hers, commanded respect and attention. _"You are seeing this message because the Empire has taken control of your planet Spira. I regret that our meeting could not be under more peaceful circumstances, but certain things cannot be helped._

"_My name is Luke Skywalker. I am the first of the new Jedi Knights. For over a thousand generations, the Jedi were the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy. Very similar, in fact, to the summoners of your world. The Jedi called upon their knowledge and power of the Force to assist them in times of crisis, much like how your summoners called upon their aeons."_

Tidus narrowed his eyes at the recording. He wasn't sure he liked the direction that this Skywalker was taking…

"_Your father, like yourself, were both very gifted summoners. My research indicates that you broke records in your journey through the temples' Cloister of Trials. This was very much a testament to your own skill, yes, but also it is a testament to your family history."_

Yuna looked up from the sphere into Tidus' eyes, confusion evident on her face. He shrugged slightly and gestured back toward the sphere. She nodded and looked back down to it. As Skywalker paused in his speech, she could hear the man holding the recording utter, _"What is Commander Skywalker getting at?"_

Skywalker's visage looked out at her from the sphere, pride evident in his features. _"My research indicates that you are the descendant of Juun Toral, no doubt a very powerful summoner during his time. However, Juun Toral was more than just a summoner."_

Skywalker paused again, seeming to marshal his words. Then he continued, slowly, _"Juun Toral was a well-respected Jedi Knight serving the Old Republic. After a long war with the Sith, Master Toral discovered Spira and decided to settle there."_ Pausing again, Skywalker seemed to decide to approach from a different angle. _"Lady Yuna, have you ever felt something in your heart or your mind telling you to take a certain path, or do a certain thing, and you did not know where or how you knew how to do that? Or has your body sometimes acted without the input of your brain, and you've saved lives that way?"_

Yuna paled considerably, recalling specific moments in her life when she _had_ had occurrences like the ones Skywalker mentioned. And she remembered hearing stories about her great-grandfather, many generations removed, Juun Toral. He had been the finest summoner of his day, much in the way that people regarded her and her father, Braska, as the finest summoners of their day. This man Skywalker was saying many things about her life and her family that she didn't think he could possibly have known.

"_Yes, Lady Yuna, that is correct,"_ Skywalker's image said, as though reading her thoughts. _"You are gifted with inheritance of the knowledge of the Force. Your father knew this as well. I have sensed several strong disturbances in the Force, centered around objects, that are on an island on Spira called Besaid. One of these is probably a message from your father, telling you of your history. Another is likely the weapon of the Jedi, the lightsaber._

"_The Rebel pilot who has brought you this message, also has a means by which you can contact me, and I can provide you lessons on how to use your powers of the Force, and the lightsaber, when you find it. I anxiously await the day that I might speak to you directly, Lady Yuna."_

Skywalker's image on the sphere blinked out, and the man returned the device to his pocket. Yuna could hear the man and Nooj conversing in surprised tones; they evidently had not pre-screened the message before recording it onto the sphere. But she paid no attention to their words; her mind streaking down corridors far away from the contents of the sphere.

She remembered, vaguely, the stories her father used to tell her about people who could leap dozens of feet into the air, move objects around at will, and that wielded swords of pure light. She remembered, as a little girl, listening in awe to those stories, and envying those people with such mysterious powers. Was it possible that she, too, could do all those things? And more?

The sphere had long gone silent in her hands, its message finished. She simply stared blankly into space, until Tidus waved his hand before her eyes and then snapped his fingers twice, rapidly.

She blinked and looked around in confusion, as though not remembering where she was, then her eyes focused on Tidus, who was watching her with a curious expression. "Father left me a sphere," she mumbled, absently.

"Come again?" Tidus asked.

She looked up at him and smiled slightly, setting Nooj's sphere on the ground before standing up and taking both of his hands in hers. "My father left a sphere for me in the temple. I could never get it to play, and neither could anyone else. Every time I tried, it always asked me for a password. I guess that password is Juun Toral, the name of my distant great-grandfather."

Tidus nodded, squeezing her hands gently. "So we're going to the temple? I'll go tell Wakka that he needs to figure out some way to distract the stormtroopers so that we can sneak in."

Nodding, she smiled at him, then leaned forward and kissed him lightly, then gave his hands a squeeze. "Thank you."

Returning her kiss with one of his own and a smile, he pulled his hands away from hers and, with a wave, turned and dashed out of the cavern.

Sighing wistfully, Yuna sat down on the blankets that they had slept in for weeks, and picked up the sphere again, turning it over in her hands. "So," she said quietly. "I'm a Jedi."

---

An hour later, Tidus and Yuna crouched in the jungle behind the temple, listening carefully to the conversation at the front of the temple.

"So, what exactly did you guys come here for?" Wakka's voice reached to them from around the building. "I mean, from what I hear, you guys didn't have no problem takin' over, so you can't be after our machina, ya?"

There was an audible pause, which Tidus found to be discomforting. From what Wakka had said, the two stormtroopers who were stationed in Besaid were actually quite friendly and seemed to enjoy talking to the villagers.

Finally, the stormtroopers relented. "You're right about that, Wakka," the mechanically-filtered voice said. "Your weapons would be useless to us in fighting the Rebels. That's not what we're here after. We'd heard reports that indicated that some monster had been terrorizing your planet for a thousand years. We're here after that."

Yuna gasped, bringing her hands up to her mouth. Beside her, Tidus clenched a tight fist, his expression twisted in anger. They could hear the shocked reactions of the villagers within earshot of the conversation.

"You… you came here for Sin!?" Wakka burst out. "Are you guys out of your minds!? You haven't lived here! You haven't seen what Sin can do!"

As Wakka continued his outburst, Tidus looked over at Yuna and squeezed her hand, nodding toward the temple and drawing his sword. She nodded also, checked her guns, and then slipped forward as silently as possible.

"I went on a pilgrimage against Sin as a guardian! I've seen first-hand what it can do, ya!? It just kills and slaughters and destroys. Without thought or mercy! And you want to unleash that on any number of worlds!? What in Yevon's name is wrong with you people!?"

As Yuna slipped up onto the raised platform that led into the temple, she saw the stormtroopers exchange a glance and tensed, hoping that they didn't spot her, hoping that they wouldn't level their blasters on Wakka.

Then the stormtrooper on the left turned back toward Wakka and shrugged his shoulders lightly. "Either way, it's a moot point now. Since you people killed Sin two years ago." There was no mistaking that the stormtrooper was not pleased with that information.

"So you think that you could've just boxed Sin up, stuck it in your big ship up there, and cart it off to whatever world you felt like destroying, ya? Lemme tell you brudda, it _don't_ work that way!"

Any reply the stormtroopers may have made was lost on Yuna and Tidus, the two of them having slipped into the temple while Wakka was still raving. Once inside, they quickly moved away from the main entrance, Tidus wondering where the sphere was, and Yuna heading directly to the statue of her father. Sensitive to the fact that she may want to be alone, Tidus simply stood aside and watched her.

Clasping her hands before her, Yuna craned her head back to stare up into the face of her father's statue, feeling like a little girl again. "Father, why didn't you tell me?" she whispered quietly.

She waited for a moment, as though expecting an answer, then tore her eyes away from the statue and turned back toward Tidus, smiling apologetically. "Come on," she said, pointing to the temple chamber to the right of the path up into the Cloister of Trials. "The sphere is in here."

Tidus nodded and followed Yuna into the antechamber, closing the door behind them just in case the stormtroopers decided to wander around the temple. He watched in wonder as she moved directly to a shelf and reached up toward a sphere set high up. Even standing on the tips of her toes, she couldn't quite reach it.

She turned around and looked to Tidus as he struggled to keep from laughing, her cheeks burning red. "Umm…?" She gestured to the sphere.

He laughed and walked over to the shelf, stretching up to reach the top and grab hold of the sphere. Lowering back down to his regular height, he handed the sphere over to Yuna with a snicker and kiss on the forehead.

Blushing furiously, she smacked him in the center of his chest with her open palm, then turned away and placed her hands on the sphere, squeezing gently to activate it. The sphere pulsed lightly, then a voice wavered out of it. "Say your password."

Yuna cleared her throat, looked over at Tidus, then back down to the sphere. "Juun Toral," she said, hoping she spoke clearly enough.

She paused, holding her breath, and waited. The sphere glowed brightly, and then the glow faded, with an image of Braska replacing it. Yuna barely held in a squeak of joy at having successfully unlocked her father's sphere. She smiled brightly at Tidus, then turned her full attention to the sphere.

"_Hello, Yuna,"_ Braska's voice said from within the sphere, as his smiling image looked out at her. _"If you're watching this sphere, then you've been informed of your heritage and knew to use your great-grandfather's name as the password._

"_Everything you were told about your heritage as a Jedi is true. Juun Toral came to Spira two hundred years ago and began our family line. Every descendant of his has been strong in the Force, but none have ever needed to use that power until now. You, Yuna, must take up the mantle of the Jedi Knight._

"_Unfortunately, I have no knowledge of any spheres or recordings on Spira that can help you learn the ways of the Force. I assume that you learned of your heritage through an outsider who has informed you of such. It is my hope that this person has offered you a way to learn how to become a Jedi."_

Braska paused, his image showing his pride in his daughter. _"I cannot assist you in learning the ways of the Force, Yuna. But I can give you the weapon of the Jedi. This sphere is the key, Yuna. The statue of myself in the Besaid Temple took so long to arrive because I had it custom-built._

"_Take this sphere, Yuna, and place it in the recess at the back of the pedestal on my statue. It will open a hidden slot, and within you will find the lightsaber of your great-grandfather, Juun Toral, which has been handed down in our family for generations. I don't suggest you try to use it until you have received training. It is a most unconventional weapon._

"_Yuna, if you are watching this sphere, then I have mixed feelings for this day. I am proud that you are living up to our heritage as protectors and guardians in a way that no one has done since Master Toral. But I am in fear, knowing that your ascension to Jedi Knighthood comes in Spira's darkest times. I pray that you are able to protect Spira with your powers, and that you remain safe in these trying times."_ His form shrunk slightly, and it took her a moment to realize that he'd stepped away from the spherecamera so that she could see his prayer genuflection. She winced slightly, having forgotten that her father had died before she had seen the falsehoods of Yevon torn down.

"_Always remember Yuna, that I am very proud of you, and I love you."_

Then the recording ended, and she lowered the sphere, choking back a sob. She wanted to make her father proud of her, but knowing that he would not be here to _tell_ her how proud he was hurt. She knew it was selfish of her, but she didn't care. She had always acted for others, for Spira. She wanted to do something for herself for once. _Genuinely_ for herself and no one else.

Suddenly she felt strong arms around her, and a warmth pressed against her tightly. For a moment, she thought that it was her father, then she caught sight of Tidus' blond hair and blushed slightly, having momentarily forgotten he was there.

She smiled a little. _Okay, maybe for me _and_ him, but still…_

Pulling back slightly, she smiled up at Tidus. "Let's go get my lightsaber," she said.

"You got it," he said, pulling down a fist in that way he always did. She could tell that he had no clue about Jedi or the Force or lightsabers, but he was behind her anyway. Then again, all she knew about them was from the stories she remembered her father telling her when she was a child.

Smiling, she held the sphere in one hand, intertwining her other with Tidus' as she walked out of the antechamber and headed directly toward her father's statue. Kneeling down, she pulled her hand away from Tidus' and felt around the ill-lit base of the statue. Taking a hint, Tidus knelt on the other side and did the same.

After a few moments, Tidus suddenly jerked up and reached for the sphere with one hand. "Did you find it?" Yuna asked excitedly, handing over the sphere.

He nodded, and slid the sphere into the recess he was holding his other hand over. Pushing it in until it locked into place, he waited. Leaning over him, Yuna watched with the excitement of a little girl getting her first bicycle for Christmas.

The sphere pulsed brightly, then slid fully into the recess as a small stone cover slid over it. There was a faint sound of stone scraping against stone, and a slot below the hidden recess opened.

Blinking, somehow having expected the lightsaber to come floating out into her hand, Yuna reached past Tidus and into the slot. Her fingers touched something cylindrical, which she wrapped her hand around and pulled out of the slot. Once she had it free, she turned and held it out under the torchlight in the dim chamber.

The object she held in her hands was the length of her forearm, solid metal, with a round button on one side, and it was trimmed in blue and green metal. _The same color as my eyes,_ she thought, turning the cylinder over in her hand. _It's almost as if this was made specifically for me._

Looking up at Tidus, she stepped back away from the statues into an open space, and pressed the silver button under her thumb. With a snapping hiss, a brilliant blue-green blade flashed into existence, its light expelling the darkness of the chamber. She testingly swung the blade through the air a few times, listening to the change in pitch of the weapon's hum.

What surprised her the most about the weapon was that its weight did not increase when she activated the blade. Just to make certain, she pressed the button under her thumb again, banishing the blade. Once more, the weight did not change. _So this is why the lightsaber is such a difficult weapon to master,_ she pondered.

She looked across the temple to Tidus, who was staring at her in wonder, as though she was some heroine from whatever fairy tales he had been told as a child in Zanarkand. Smiling sheepishly, she tied the lightsaber to her belt and crossed the distance between herself and Tidus, enfolding him in a tight hug.

He laughed aloud, and she pulled back from him, looking up at him curiously. "So you've been the High Summoner, a sphere hunter, a fiend hunter, a singer, a blitzer, and now you're going to be a Jedi Knight. What else is there for you to do, Yuna?"

She laughed as well, and hugged him again. _I have an idea,_ she thought to herself as she looked up into his ocean-blue eyes. _But we'll deal with that after we kick the Empire off our planet._

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**A/N:** Holy shit! Yuna a Jedi!? Who saw that one coming? No, really. I've been dropping hints since chapter one. And if you think that one came out of the asteroid belt, just wait until you see what else I've got planned! Business is picking up, ladies and gentlemen!

And now, shout-outs.

**Morgaine of the Fairies:** Glad you're enjoying it. Look forward to more action and adventure in future chapters! And sure thing, I'll check out your fic tomorrow. I would've tonight, but I've spent HOURS working on this chapter. xx It was like seven pages. My longest yet.


	6. Chapter Six: Old Friends

"We have to leave Besaid," Yuna said, in that voice of hers that commanded attention and respect.

Tidus nodded to her. "I know. We have to find Nooj and this pilot, so that you can learn how to become a Jedi. But how are we going to get out? The Empire is watching all shipping. We couldn't possibly smuggle ourselves onto a boat."

Yuna frowned slightly and turned away, trying to think of a way they could get halfway across Spira. Suddenly, as she realized she was staring at her father's statue, she rocked back as though physically struck.

A silly grin spreading across her face, she skipped over to Tidus and bounced on her toes in a manner she probably picked up from Rikku. "Hey, remember when I told you about Vegnagun? How it pulled all the fayth into the Farplane?"

"Right," he answered, nodding. "It left big holes in all the temples that fiends came out of." His jerked thumb pointed back toward the Cloister of Trials. "I've seen the one here. The hole is still there."

"Right!" she said enthusiastically. "But the temples weren't the only places where we found holes."

She stopped speaking there, waiting for Tidus to catch on. Within moments he did, his face lighting up as he did so. "The Cavern of the Stolen Fayth! Vegnagun pulled that fayth into the Farplane too, so the hole is probably still there."

Grinning, she nodded and clapped her hands together enthusiastically. "Right! So we just go into the Farplane abyss, and we can get back out into the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth from there!"

Grinning as well, Tidus grabbed her hand and ran with her up the steps into the Cloister of Trials, reflecting back to the first time he had entered there, with all of the priests and even Wakka shocked and outraged by his taboo action. If he hadn't run into the Trials that day, he may never have met Yuna.

Shaking that thought away, he ran with Yuna beside him through the trials, skidding to a stop on the elevator down to the antechamber and waiting for it to descend. While waiting for it to go down, Yuna pulled her hand away from Tidus' and untied her lightsaber, laying the weapon across her palms and staring at it in disbelief. She still couldn't believe that hers was the legacy of the Jedi Knights.

Closing her eyes, she tightly clenched the cylinder in her hands. "Father, great-grandpa Toral, I _will_ make you proud of me."

Tidus reached over and laid his hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently to let her know that no matter where she went, or what she chose to do, that he would stay beside her. He smiled fondly, recalling the welcome that his own father, Jecht, had given him after Sin had been destroyed. He'd made his old man proud of him. He also knew that Braska was also very proud of Yuna. One day, he would tell her that. But not now. She needed to be focused on what laid ahead.

The elevator shuddered to a halt. Taking her left hand in his right, Tidus tugged gently and when she moved after him, the lightsaber still gripped in her right hand, he led the way into the Chamber of the Fayth.

At the brink of the hole where the fayth statue once laid in the ground, Yuna hesitated, and Tidus could sense she was a little scared. Slowly, she shook her head. "I never thought I would go back in there…"

Letting go of her hand, Tidus closed the distance between them and pulled her into a tight hug. "Don't worry, Yuna. I'm going to be with you the entire way. I won't leave you."

Her eyes widened as a moment of sudden revelation struck her. "But what if you can't leave the Farplane? What if you…disappear again?" Her voice became deathly quiet as she finished her sentence, causing him to hug her even tighter.

"Don't you worry about that," he replied. "I promised that I would always be by your side, and there's no way that the Farplane is going to make me break my promise. And besides," he added with a cocky grin, "you're the great-granddaughter of Spira's only Jedi Knight. The Farplane wouldn't _dare_ tell you no."

She laughed, and clung tightly to him. "Thank you. You don't know how much better that made me feel."

"You're welcome. Now, we need to go. We've got to make you a Jedi."

"Yes."

Still holding her tightly in his arms, Tidus let his weight sag to the left, toward the hole in the ground. He felt her gasp slightly, not quite having expected him to do that, and kept his arms around her as the two of them plummeted into the Farplane.

---

It was huge, looming out of the ocean depths before them like a ghost of the past. Truly, that's what it indeed was. The outside of the dagger-shaped ship had been corroded with time, but it appeared to have started its life with a white color.

Gippal halted his descent and turned to Rikku, then gestured down to the ship and gave her a thumbs-up sign. She nodded in reply, then the two of them turned and continued down toward it.

After escaping from the Djose Temple, Rikku had shown Gippal the hidden pathway underneath Lake Macalania that led directly to Bikanel Island. Once there, the two had commandeered an Al Bhed salvage ship and taken it out to search for a group of ruins that rumors had recently been flying around about. According to rumor, the ruins were in fact crashed ships from beyond Spira that contained weapons never before seen on their planet.

In Gippal's understanding, that translated that these unknown weapons might have been useful against the Empire.

Within moments, the two of them had reached the surface of the sunken ship. Swimming around to the underside of the vessel, they found an external airlock and triggered the portal to open. As it did, water rushed into the empty chamber beyond, and they followed. Behind them, the outer door sealed shut as the chamber equalized the air pressure with that of the ship.

Finally, the inner doorway opened, and the water that had filled the airlock chamber rushed into the ship, flowing through the corridors and accessways until it vanished from their view entirely.

Cautiously, the two made their way through the slightly-tilted corridors, wandering around in search of some sort of storage bay. Their footsteps echoed endlessly off the white walls and ceilings that they passed by.

"This place gives me the creeps," Rikku said finally, breaking the silence. Her voice echoed mournfully down the corridor before and behind them. As though further unnerved by the echo, she reached down and drew out her twin thief's daggers. She had managed to convince herself that anything on this ship other than herself and Gippal would be a ghost.

"It's just a sunken ship," Gippal replied, resting his mortar launcher lightly on his shoulder. At the end of the corridor ahead of them was a door that looked to hold a large area beyond. "What, you scared? You want to go back to the dredger?"

Rikku stopped where she stood and stamped her foot childishly. "I'm not scared!" she almost shrieked. "I just hate spooky places…"

Rolling his eye, Gippal stopped at the door and peered through the viewport into the space beyond. "Well, well," he said, looking around for some kind of access panel. "Looks like we've found what we're looking for."

Almost immediately, Rikku apparently forgot her nervousness and skipped up to the door. "Really?" she asked, standing on her toes to peek through the other viewport. She then dropped back to her normal height and looked around also. "I don't see any door controls."

"Then we do this the hard way," Gippal replied, swinging up his mortar launcher.

Her eyes widening, Rikku turned and dashed a ways back up the corridor. For his part, Gippal aimed the multiple tubes of his launcher toward the doorway, then fired. A huge explosion filled the far end of the corridor, the shock wave threatening to knock Rikku off her feet. She stumbled, remained upright, and then dashed forward through the clearing smoke into the space beyond the door.

She found herself standing on a walkway overlooking a vast cargo bay. A series of recessed bulkheads along the left side of the space indicated doorways that could be opened to allow the movement of vehicles and cargo outside the ship. Thousands of crates of what she could only assume to be weapons and armor lined the walls of the bay.

And sitting directly before the massive doors that could be opened for exit were two dozen airship-like vehicles with downward-sweeping wings, twin missile launchers atop them, and ball-shaped turrets on both wings and to the sides of the cockpit. The vehicle was open to air, and had a pair of doors on either side of it that could swing closed to keep anyone within from falling out. It was obviously a heavily-armed troop transport.

Gippal walked up to Rikku's side and looked over the contents of the cargo bay, then grinned and laid a hand on her shoulder. "We have hit the jackpot."

---

She had always thought of the Farplane glen as a place of beauty, despite the bad memories that it held for her. Shuyin, Vegnagun, the ghostly form of Tidus walking away from her. As she stood up in the flower bed, Yuna noticed that she was still tightly gripping the lightsaber in her hand. Tying it to her belt with a particular knot that would allow her to quickly pull the weapon free, she turned and looked for Tidus.

He stood up a few feet away from her, looking around in wonder at the flowered glen. His eyes widened as he seemed to recognize where he was, then he turned and looked directly at Yuna. "The Farplane glen."

Her throat thickened at those three words and she quickly crossed the distance between them, wrapping her arms tightly around him as though she feared that he would simply fade away from her. "You…remember?"

He nodded slowly, holding her tightly. "Yes. I led you out of here the first time you fell in."

She felt her fingers tighten on the fabric of his shirt, and hot tears stinging her cheeks. "It really was you?"

"Yes. I heard you crying, so I whistled. You heard me, and I led you out."

She didn't reply. Instead, she only held him tighter as she tried to push away the pain that those memories brought to her. First the revelation that it had been Shuyin in the sphere, and not Tidus. Then the conflict between her own feelings and Lenne's as Shuyin had hugged her. And lastly, to see a ghostly image of Tidus on the Farplane. She had thought him dead at that point, and had had terrible pain in her heart for days.

Then came another voice, similar to Tidus' yet much deeper. "Well, I never thought that I would see you here again, Lady High Summoner."

At the same instant, Tidus and Yuna stepped away from each other and turned toward the voice. There he was, striding out of the fog, exactly as he had been the first time Yuna had seen him. Those features so similar to Tidus' that it made her heart ache, yet the obvious differences in clothing, and simply the aura about him.

"Shuyin," Yuna said coldly, her eyes narrowed. She reached for the lightsaber at her side.

"That won't be necessary," came yet another new voice, rich and feminine, yet soft and gentle at the same time.

Yuna turned halfway around just as she felt a soft hand land over her own, preventing her from drawing the lightsaber. Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw the taller figure of the songstress whose feelings she had carried inside her. As every time Yuna had envisioned her, Lenne's face held a smile. The soft brown eyes and long brown hair was exactly as Yuna remembered from mere months ago, even down to the same attire that she, herself, wore in her songstress dressphere.

"Lenne," Yuna said, in a much softer tone.

Smiling still, the taller woman nodded. Satisfied that Yuna was not going to draw her weapon, Lenne pulled her hand away and walked past Yuna and Tidus, moving to stand beside Shuyin.

"I would ask you why you've returned here," Shuyin said, "but that wouldn't say much about us as all-knowing spirits, now would it?"

Yuna stood staring in shock. This couldn't be Shuyin. The Shuyin she had known had been a tortured soul, twisted by despair and hate. This one…was almost like Tidus in a way.

Then she blinked, remembering that Tidus was, in fact, standing at her side. But before she could make introductions, Tidus spoke up himself.

"I know you," he said. "From Zanarkand. You used to play for the C-South Duggles."

Shuyin nodded with a smirk. "And you, Jecht's son. Star player of the Zanarkand Abes. It's a shame we never got to meet in person before, Tidus."

"That's me," Tidus answered, pulling down a fist. Then he turned to Lenne. "And _everyone_ knew you. The most famous songstress in all of Zanarkand. It's an honor to finally meet you."

Lenne smiled in return. "I am pleased that you and Lady Yuna were reunited. After all she has done for Spira, and for helping me deliver the words that I'd been longing to say for a thousand years, I believe that Yuna has earned her happiness."

Yuna looked down to the flowers between her feet, blushing profusely. She took a step over and slipped her right hand into Tidus' left, then looked up at Lenne and smiled. "Thank you, Lady Lenne."

Lenne laughed, a sweet, musical sound, and waved her hand in Yuna's direction. "Please, must there be formalities between us? After we shared minds for so many months, I was hoping that we could consider one another friends." Her tone was not accusing in any manner.

Smiling, Yuna nodded. "Of course."

Shuyin's previously-merry expression faded to a serious one. "So, we know why you're here, and what's going on in Spira. It seems that you can't find peace in your time."

Yuna sighed slowly and nodded, turning her saddened expression toward the pair across from her. "I know. It isn't fair. But we must deal with what comes to us. But right now, we must get to the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth."

Shuyin nodded toward her, his right hand held in both of Lenne's, his left hand resting on the hilt of his sword. "I know. The path is still there, as is the opening. You will find Nooj and your Rebel pilot still there."

"In the meantime, we will begin thwarting the forces of the Empire," Lenne said.

Tidus blinked confusedly at her. "How's that? Aren't you guys dead?"

The expression on Shuyin's face could only be described as predatory. "Exactly. You cannot kill what is already dead."

Now it was Yuna's turn to be confused. "How exactly can you help us? Doesn't death limit your options?"

Smiling a predatory smile, Lenne stepped away from Shuyin, who obligingly backed away from her. Yuna couldn't help but wonder why Shuyin was moving away the same distance that her guardians had moved every time she had summoned an aeon in battle. Lifting her right hand into the air, Lenne's songstress microphone that she also used as a summoning staff appeared in her hand.

As her smile widened, she twisted the staff around in her hand, bringing it over to her left side before sweeping it back in front of her. A huge shadow appeared over the glen, but before Yuna or Tidus had time to look up and identify its source, dark clouds gathered over the glen, completely blotting out the shadow and whatever had caused it.

As they watched, runic symbols suddenly appeared at the lowest layer of clouds, and a blurred shape could be seen racing toward the center of the runes. Yuna gasped, bringing her hands up to her mouth, as she recognized what she was seeing. The shape crashed through the center of the runes, splitting them into three different runes, as a sonic boom washed over the glen.

The storm clouds suddenly vanished, revealing a draconic form with feathered, multi-colored wings streaking down toward the glen. The form pulled up abruptly, turning itself so that it would land feet-first on the flowered surface. It impacted the glen with such force that Shuyin struggled to maintain his footing; Lenne barely swayed where she stood.

As it stood to its full fifteen-foot height, the dragon let loose an intimidating roar and then stood there, arms crossed together as it waited for its summoner to give it a command.

Tidus stood staring at the aeon, his mouth agape. Yuna stepped forward, her hands still held over her mouth, walking toward the dragon. For its part, the dragon regarded her steadily with its white-eyed gaze.

"An…aeon…" Yuna finally managed, breathless.

Lenne nodded with a smile. "The fayth see everything, as we do. They have agreed to lend their spirits for me to use to aid you in throwing off the oppressive Empire. I can summon any aeon that I desire." She made a dismissive gesture toward the dragon, which burst into pyreflies that quickly vanished into the Farplane.

Shuyin stepped forward again, laying a hand on Lenne's shoulder. "And I have the power to control fiends. Yuna, there is talk of rebellion all over Spira. Your friend Rikku has discovered a sunken ship filled with weapons that can combat the Empire. Nooj, the Rebel pilot, and Gippal are individually planning to unite Spira as a single fighting force against the Empire."

"Yuna," Lenne said, "learn the ways of the Force. Become a Jedi Knight. When you are ready, there will be a rebel army of Spira for you to lead."

"But, how will Spira know to unite and rise up against them?" Yuna asked softly. "They control all sphere channels and the ports."

"Who better to spread the message than the dead?" a deep, smooth voice asked from behind Yuna.

She and Tidus both spun, and Yuna couldn't hold in a laugh of joy as she recognized the three figures standing behind her, exactly as she remembered them. In the front stood her father, Braska, his expression one of fatherly pride and happiness. Behind him and to his right stood Auron, the red-coated ronin who had served as guardian for both her and her father. And on Braska's left, standing with crossed arms the way he was usually seen, was Tidus' own father, Jecht.

Unable to contain herself, Yuna dashed forward and flung her arms around Braska, unable to contain her happiness at seeing her father again. Still smiling widely, Braska folded his sleeved arms around her as she sobbed into his chest.

Smiling at Yuna and Braska, Tidus stepped forward toward Jecht, who was holding out his right hand. His smile shifting into a grin, Tidus lifted his right arm and slapped his gloved hand into Jecht's in greeting.

"Good to see you again, boy," Jecht said, grinning as well as he crossed his arms again. "You been putting on some muscle, I see. Not bad for someone who's only been alive again for a few months."

Tidus laughed. "Good to see you too, old man. How's the dream world been treating you?"

"As good as it can, I suppose. Boring as hell, though. Now that all that hoo-hah about Sin and the fayth is over and done with, there's nothing to do anymore but sit around and watch blitzball. The Abes haven't been doin' too hot since you came to Spira, you know."

Tidus waved his hand in front of his face and shook his head. "Nah, the Abes were a good team. They didn't need me to carry them." He then turned toward his old mentor, and softly dropped his fist against the man's red-clad shoulder. "So what've you been up to, Auron? Keeping my old man out of trouble?"

Auron chuckled, the smirk on his face hidden by his high collar. "More or less. You're acting like you've been gone a few years, instead of a few months."

Tidus shrugged helplessly. "What can I say? I'm loving every minute I spend here on Spira."

Jecht looked over Tidus' shoulder at Yuna, who was sharing a quiet conversation with her father, and grinned, elbowing his son gently in the stomach. "And who can blame you, eh? I figured she'd be good for ya, son. Back twelve years ago when I first met her, I looked at little Yuna and thought to myself, 'Self, you need to bring that crybaby of yours here to Spira just to hook him up with little Yuna. She'd sure be able to set him straight!'"

Tidus laughed and turned partially to look towards Yuna, who was holding up the lightsaber to her father, probably promising him that she would live up to their heritage. "She sure has, Dad. You were right about that."

Laughing, Jecht reached out and clapped his hand onto Tidus' shoulder. "So, boy, when are you bringing the next generation of star blitzer into Spira?"

Tidus paled considerably and reeled back, blushing profusely. "Dad!"

Jecht burst out in even louder laughter, holding one arm over his stomach as he slapped the side of his leg in good jest. "I'm just kiddin' ya, boy! You should've seen the look on your face."

Scratching the back of his neck, Tidus glanced over to Yuna to see her laughing as well, but he caught the blush of her cheeks that told him she had also been embarrassed by Jecht's brash approach to their relationship.

Auron cleared his throat, then looked from Yuna to Tidus. "Do not worry about organizing Spira into a rebel movement. We will handle that. The Empire's stormtroopers cannot harm us. We will do that while you learn the ways of the Force. Yuna, I wish you luck." He focused his gaze on Tidus. "Keep her safe. Let her lean upon you for strength and support when she needs it the most."

Tidus nodded silently, his expression determined.

Braska hugged Yuna one last time, then stepped away from her. Almost as one, he, Jecht, and Auron all began to fade from sight. In moments, they were gone.

Drawing in a deep breath, Yuna turned toward Tidus and nodded, then both of them turned toward Lenne and Shuyin. Shuyin nodded to them, then turned and waved his right hand in the air. A glowing orange portal appeared in the air before them.

"This will take you directly to the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth. Go, and become a Jedi, Yuna."

Nodding silently, Yuna linked hands with Tidus and stepped into the portal, allowing silence and white light to overcome them.

* * *

**A/N:** Ew. I _hate_ how that chapter ended up. I swear up and down that this is the LAST time I watch TV while working on a fanfic. It's just so disgustingly decrepit in my eyes. Ah well. Shit happens. On to shout-outs. 

**Morgaine of the Fairies:** Ah yes. I should've put at the beginning of the last chapter "And now, with a special guest appearance from Luke Skywalker!" Hah. No, you will not see Yuna removing her own limbs with the lightsaber. You _will_, however, see a very pissed-off Yuna wielding the Force and a lightsaber in upcoming chapters. It will not be pretty.

**Furitaurus:** Sorry, man. The role of über-l337 Jedi chick has already been filled. But look! Rikku got to find the only weapons that Spira can really use against the Empire! That's cool, right? :D And on another note, I do not condone character death at all. ; So you needn't worry about that.

**Wolfy16:** Thanks for the words. And hey man, lemme tell ya. When inspiration comes up and slaps you in the face, you gotta roll with the punches!


	7. Chapter Seven: The Shadow of the Empire

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy and Star Wars copyright their respective owners.

* * *

Baralai looked up from his desk as the ornate doors yawned open and the two stormtroopers stationed in his office snapped to attention. He did not rise, nor did he offer a seated bow as Vader strode into his office, the heavy mechanical breathing proceeding the dark lord by several seconds. 

"Lord Vader," Baralai said, just a hint of testiness creeping into his voice. "This visit is most unexpected. You normally schedule your visits at least a few days­­–"

Vader lifted up his right hand and clenched a fist, and suddenly Baralai found himself robbed of breath. "My patience is wearing thin, Praetor Baralai. The knowledge that we arrived two years too late to acquire your Sin is enough of an annoyance, and now I want answers. _Where_ is the descendant of Juun Toral?"

As Vader loosened his fist, Baralai suddenly found the ability to breathe again. He took a deep breath, calming himself, before answering. "I do not know of any Juun Toral having ever lived on Spira. There are several reasons as to why this may be. Many of our recorded history spheres were stolen and destroyed by the former praetor. Or, there may never have been a record kept of this Toral you speak of."

"Do not play games with me, Praetor Baralai," Vader said ominously. "I can sense her presence in the Force. She is here on Spira, somewhere, attempting to learn the ways of the Jedi. I will ask you again, Praetor Baralai, and I shall inform you now that my patience is almost at an end. Where is the High Summoner?"

Baralai's head came up. "You believe that High Summoner Yuna is the descendant of this Juun Toral? And she has what? Some mystical powers? The only 'mystical' powers she's ever had was the ability to summon aeons."

His black-gloved fist began to tighten once more, and Baralai felt an invisible hand closing around his throat. "Don't tempt me, Praetor. She _is_ the descendant of the Jedi Juun Toral, and she is trying to learn the ways of the Force. Tell me where she is!"

Through an inner force of will, Baralai managed not to gasp for air or claw at his throat. He kept his hands placed firmly on his desktop, despite the fact that there was blackness creeping in at the edges of his vision. "I don't know…exactly where she is. She lives… on Besaid Island…"

Vader suddenly opened his hand, and the force crushing against Baralai's throat vanished. Spinning with a flourish of his cape, Vader wordlessly turned and strode from the office. Only after the door had closed did Baralai allow himself to reach up and rub at his aching throat with one hand.

_Dissenting groups are on the rise all over Spira,_ he thought bitterly. _Act too rashly, and you'll have a full-blown rebellion on your hands._

Toward that end, he already knew that there were factions on Spira that were already preparing for that. He was dimly aware that a certain group comprised of a suspicious amount of Al Bhed had been sneaking weapons into Bevelle that they had salvaged from an underwater ruin. The weapons were set up in strategically-located caches throughout the city; set up, Baralai knew, in order to quickly arm and equip the maximum number of rebels possible in the shortest amount of time.

He hadn't paid too much attention to the smuggling activities; any extra attention paid by him to a certain area of the city would undoubtedly draw the Empire's attention soon afterward.

As he sat there pondering on the state of affairs in Spira, a group of pyreflies entered his office through a wall and began to coalesce around one another. Baralai, as well as the two stormtroopers, stared at them curiously.

Suddenly, the two stormtroopers froze in their place, just seconds before the pyreflies shimmered and faded, to be replaced by a familiar red-clad man that almost everyone in Spira knew.

"Do not worry about them," Auron said. "I cast Stop on them. They will know nothing of what we say here."

Baralai settled back in his seat, trying to wipe the expression of surprise off his face. "Sir Auron? Forgive me for being so blunt, but aren't you dead?"

The ronin chuckled. "Yes, I still am. But we of the Farplane are gathering our forces for the rebellion."

"The rebellion," Baralai repeated blankly.

"All of Spira must unite, using the weapons that the Al Bhed are gathering, if we are to regain control of our world. This is your warning. Tell your most trusted commanders of what we plan. When we have a time set, I will return and tell you what you are to do. Until then, you must continue to bide your time."

"I am afraid that even our finest soldiers are no match for the Empire's stormtroopers," Baralai said, spreading his hands helplessly.

"Believe," Auron replied. "Yuna is staking her life on having all of Spira united to fight by the time she is finished her training."

Baralai nodded slowly. "For Lady Yuna, every citizen of Bevelle would gladly lay down his or her life. I shall begin preparations at once."

"Good." Auron's image began to fade away. "Until we meet again."

With those last words, the ronin was gone. Sighing slowly, Baralai turned his seat toward the window, watching as Lord Vader's shuttle rose into the skies and headed south, toward Besaid. He ignored the confused utterances of the two stormtroopers, and rubbed his hands over his face.

Spira was in for dark times ahead.

---

"_A Jedi can feel the Force flowing through her, guiding her actions."_

"So…it controls…what I do?" Yuna asked, straining every muscle of her body. She had been standing on her hands for at least half an hour, and she was beginning to feel light-headed.

"_Partially,"_ Luke answered over the hypercomm. _"But it also answers your will. You must find the balance between allowing it to guide you, and guiding it with your own thoughts."_

"I understand…" she grunted, straining to remain upright.

Over the holographic image, Luke smiled. _"Very good, Yuna. You're learning faster than I did. And now, the rocks."_

On Luke's request, Tidus had gone hunting around the cavern for three heavy rocks of different sizes. He'd found good enough rocks; he and the Rebel pilot Arren had taken half a day to lug all three of them back to the small cavern where Yuna's training was taking place.

Without replying, Yuna closed her eyes and shifted her weight onto her left hand, allowing her to slowly raise her right hand off the ground in the direction of the rocks. Without seeing them, she could sense their presence in the Force that connected and bound everything in the universe. She felt herself get a solid grip on the largest stone, and slowly moved her hand toward the direction of the cavern's center.

Tidus watched in awe, his mouth dropping open, as the rock lifted slowly from the ground and drifted toward the center of the small room, wobbling slightly as it did so. He dimly recalled that it had taken him and Arren three hours just to get that rock into the chamber.

As he watched, Yuna lowered her hand slightly and the rock settled gently to the floor of the cavern. Moments later, the medium-sized rock lifted off of the ground, floating over to the larger one and balancing delicately atop it. Tidus knew that Yuna had to be holding it from falling over with the Force; the different shapes of the rocks ensured that they would not stack together in that way without being held. Within another few minutes, the smallest rock was also perched delicately atop the second.

"_Very good, Yuna. Continue."_

Suddenly, Tidus felt an invisible force take hold of his body and lift him into the air. He swung about, grabbing for something to get a hold of to arrest his ascension. "Hey! Whoa!"

"_Don't struggle, Tidus,"_ Luke's voice said, carrying with it a hint of amusement. _"You'll disturb Yuna's concentration."_

As he stopped his motions and settled for crossing his arms with a scowl on his face, he heard Yuna giggle from where she was positioned. "I'm so going to get you for this, Yuna!"

The sound of Luke's laughter echoed through the cavern. _"That's good for now, Yuna. You can put him down."_

Tidus watched as the three rocks lifted away from each other and individually set down on the floor of the cavern with barely a sound. Then Yuna lowered her right hand back to the ground before bending her elbows and flipping back up onto her feet.

"Uhh, Yuna? You gonna put me down?"

Yuna turned toward Tidus with a playful smile on her face, then she made a 'come here' gesture with her hand. As soon as she did so, Tidus could feel himself drifting through the air toward her, his height above ground lowering as he did so. When he reached her, she leaned up on her toes and kissed him softly, then released her hold on him, allowing him to drop back fully to the ground.

"I just wanted to play with you," she answered. Then she giggled and added, "The Force is fun."

"_What do you feel, Yuna? Through the Force."_

Turning in the direction of Luke's holoimage, Yuna clasped her hands in front of her and closed her eyes. She allowed herself to flow into the Force, the way that Luke had instructed her to. As she did so, a whole new world suddenly opened to her.

"I feel…Tidus," she said with a smile. "I feel his love for me."

"_Very good. Focus on that. Let the love that the two of you share be your window into the Force. Peace, calm, and tranquillity. A Jedi best hears the Force when she is in that state of mind. When you reflect on your love, you are at peace. That is when you will have the most control over the Force. Try it now."_

Nodding, Yuna turned her back toward Tidus and leaned into him. She felt his strong arms wrap around her waist and hold her against him. She smiled happily as a sense of utter calm washed over her, and suddenly she felt as though she could see the entire universe. Countless worlds with hundreds of millions of sentient species. In her mind's eye, she could see worlds of natural beauty rivaling anything seen on Spira. She gasped aloud, still smiling, loving what she was seeing.

"_How is it?"_

"It's wonderful!" she breathed. "I feel so alive."

Luke was audibly pleased. _"Very good. You are making excellent progress, Yuna. You'll be a Jedi in no time. But now, we'll move on to lightsaber practice…"_

---

The two stormtroopers whose job it was to guard the Besaid temple exchanged a glance as they watched Vader's shuttle slowly settle to the ground in the center of the village. They assumed a rigid position of attention as the Dark Lord strode directly up to them, his ominous mechanical breathing echoing harshly in their helmets.

"Have you found the High Summoner yet?"

"No, Lord Vader, we haven't," answered the stormtrooper on the left, TC-762. "We've searched the entire island and have found no trace of her. We are almost certain that she has escaped the island."

Silence answered the stormtrooper for several long moments; silence save for that rhythmic mechanical breathing. The other stormtrooper, the younger of the two, fidgeted slightly.

"Load your men onto the shuttles, Lieutenant," Vader finally said, slowly. "Leave the island and maintain a safe distance. Once the orbital bombardment is complete, return at once and search every square inch of this island. If the High Summoner does not want to be found, then she can find herself dead."

With that, Vader turned away and crossed the short distance back to his shuttle, stalking up the ramp with not a glance to the doomed villagers. Moments later, the ramp rose and the shuttle lifted into the air, its dorsal fins folding down as it hovered on its repulsorlifts. With that completed, the shuttle engaged its engines and disappeared beyond the temple.

Standing there in shocked silence, the two stormtroopers replayed what Vader had said to them just moments before. Finally, they turned toward each other.

"This is bad," the TC-762 said over their helmet comlinks, ensuring that none of the passing villagers would hear.

"I can't just walk away knowing that these people are all going to die," the other, JN-495 replied, also on comlink. "I've actually gotten to like these people."

"So have I. But what can we do?"

"Tell them what's going to happen?"

"Of course we're going to do that, stupid. But what good will it do them? They can't get off the island at all. The rest of the squad isn't likely to just let them board a boat and leave."

As the two of them turned back to their normal guard angles, there was nothing but silence over their personal comlinks, both of them trying frantically to think of a way to do their job without stamping the death seals of the villagers.

"Hey, I got an idea," JN-495 said after a few minutes.

"What's that?"

"Take them with us."

There was an audible pause as TC-762 turned bodily toward his fellow. "Run that by me one more time." His voice was flat disbelieving.

"No, no, seriously. Okay, it's like this. We stage some kind of fiasco here in the village, then 'arrest' all of them. We load them on our shuttle and take them someplace far away while the _Executor_ bombards the hell out of the island. It sucks that they'll lose their homes, but at least they'll still be alive."

TC-762 turned away, nodding his helmeted head slightly as he thought that plan over. "It's a good plan, but a _Lambda_-class shuttle couldn't hold all the villagers. We should try putting them on a boat instead. That way they don't offload as one big group and they can go into hiding more easily. Maybe if we're lucky there'll be a boat leaving between now and the time the _Executor_ commences bombardment."

"Hey yeah, that works even better. We make a pretty good team, you and I."

"Sure do. Hey listen, I'm gonna go tell Wakka what's going on. Hold down the fort, would ya?"

"Sure thing."

Glancing around as though to make sure that Vader really had left the island, TC-762 crossed the village toward the second hut from the temple on the left side. Shifting his E-11 blaster carbine to his left hand, the stormtrooper raised his armored right hand and knocked on the door frame.

"Come on in," Wakka's voice said from inside. "You don't gotta knock, ya?"

Without answering, the stormtrooper pushed aside the sheet of cloth that served as a door and walked into Wakka's hut. Inside, Wakka was rising to his feet, a surprised expression on his face. Lulu remained seated, holding their baby in her arms and looking at the stormtrooper curiously.

"Hey, somethin' must be up," Wakka said. "It's not everyday you guys make a social call."

"Lord Vader is pretty pissed off that we haven't found the High Summoner," 762 said without preamble. "He's ordered the garrison to pull off of the island long enough for the _Executor_ to pound it flat."

If at all possible, Wakka's expression grew even more shocked. Lulu's face now showed anger, clear through. "You mean like what you did to the Ronso?" she asked coldly. "We are to be sacrificed to appease Lord Vader's anger at his own shortcomings."

"That's their plan, but it's not going to happen that way. Not as long as I'm around."

That statement managed to cut through Lulu's ice-cold glare, causing her to raise an eyebrow as she and her husband exchanged glances. "You… That's treason you're talkin', ya?" Wakka said, flabbergasted. "They'll kill ya for that!"

762 shook his head. "Let them try. But I'm not going to sit around and watch as innocent people get massacred for no reason."

"You have a plan," Lulu said simply.

"I need the village's help to stage some sort of uprising. Then we can 'arrest' all of you and put you on a boat leaving the island, claiming to be taking you to Bevelle to be thrown into the dungeon there. But we'll keep control of the boat, and let you get off wherever you like."

"That sounds like a good plan to me, ya," Wakka said. "But what about Yuna and Tidus? Won't they be left on the island when it gets blown up?"

"I don't think they're even on the island," the stormtrooper answered, shrugging slightly. "We've searched every cave on the island and haven't found them. They must've snuck off somehow without us catching them."

"Eh, I guess so," Wakka said. "Alright, I'll buy into this plan of yours. But if this don't work, you're in a lot of trouble, ya."

Nodding, 762 reached down to his E-11 and flipped the fire mode over to stun, then reduced the setting down to where a full-on hit would only stun him momentarily. As he did so, he relayed his plan to 495 outside. With that finished, he handed the E-11 to Wakka.

"This is how it's going to work. I run out of the hut, and you shoot at me. Don't worry about killing me; it's set for stun. But just to be on the safe side, don't actually hit me. Aim off to one side of me. I'll run in a straight line."

Nodding dully, Wakka looked down at the blaster carbine in his hands. "You sure this'll work?"

"It should. My partner out there is going to have to stun you full-on, or else the rest of the squad won't buy it. A stun bolt won't leave any permanent damage, it'll just knock you out for a while. Then once we're both down, he'll call in the rest of the squad, tell them that the situation is under control, but that we're going to have to arrest the entire village." He waved a hand dismissively. "We'll make up some kind of bogus story about the villagers planning to rebel."

"Except that that story isn't bogus," Lulu said.

The stormtrooper shrugged. "They don't need to know that. Let them think what they want. In any case, the rest of the squad will come and arrest everyone, then we'll take them down to the dock and put them on the next boat out of here. Hopefully, we'll be halfway across Spira before the order to bombard the island is carried out."

Wakka shook his head slowly, mindful of the blaster carbine in his hands. "I just can't believe it, ya? Here I thought you guys would pack up and leave once you figured out that we toasted Sin two years ago. And now you're up here about to turn all of Besaid into a burning cinder? The rest of the world ain't gonna take that sittin' down, ya. Rebellions will be poppin' up all over the place."

Nodding, 762 turned toward the door. "You can count me among their number. Ready?"

"I suppose so. Lu, get everything ready to go, okay? Don't worry about nothin' but my ball and your doll." Then Wakka turned back toward the stormtrooper and hefted the blaster carbine. "Okay, go."

762 wasted no time. He pushed open the flap of the hut and ran out into the village, heading directly toward the temple entrance. "Look out! He's got my blaster!"

Just as he finished that sentence, the blue-green stun bolt shot past to his right, making that whole side go numb. Playing his part, 762 let out a pained cry and collapsed to the ground with a clatter of his armor pieces, watching as 495 leveled his own E-11 and squeezed the trigger. An answering stun bolt spat out of the barrel, and 762 heard Wakka's strangled cry from behind him, before hearing the sound of a blaster clattering to the ground and the familiar sound of a stunned body following shortly after.

"_Get the rest of the squad to the village, now!"_ 762 heard over his helmet comlink. _"The villagers just tried to rise up against us, and we've got a man down. Only a stun shot; he didn't get all of it."_

"_Roger, we're on the way. Want us to scramble the TIE squadron for air support?"_

"_Negative, we've got things under control here. Bring enough binders for the whole village and a cargo speeder. We'll take them to Bevelle and toss them in the dungeon there for a good while."_

"_They can tell the rest of Spira what happens when you try to hide anyone Lord Vader might be looking for on the way. Alright, we're on the way. Estimate two minutes."_

"_Copy. Village out."_

495 kept his blaster trained on the idling villagers, for appearances only, as he moved over and pulled 762 up to his feet. Keeping with the part he was playing, 762 leaned heavily on 495 after retrieving his blaster carbine.

Two minutes later, a large cargo speeder appeared at the village gates and a squad of stormtroopers disembarked, heading into the village with their blaster carbines leveled. Without having to be ordered by either stormtrooper already in the village, the white-armored soldiers fanned out and entered every hut, applying binders to everyone they came across and ushering them out toward the waiting speeder. Only once did they run into any trouble.

As the stormtroopers dragged a young girl toward the speeder by an arm, her dog lowered itself down and growled low in its throat, obviously a second from attack. Without missing a beat, another stormtrooper leveled his carbine and fired, the stun burst folding the dog over onto its side. That same trooper wordlessly picked up the limp dog and loaded it into the back of the speeder.

Once the feeling returned to his right side, 762 stood off of 495 and walked straight into Wakka's hut, taking the bag from Lulu that contained her Onion Knight doll and Wakka's World Champion blitzball. Receiving a nod from the black mage, 762 slung the bag over his shoulder and led Lulu out of the hut. Almost immediately, another stormtrooper came up and tried to take Vidina away from her. 762 immediately held up a hand to stop the stormtrooper.

"Don't. Let her carry the baby. She knows better than to try anything, after how we handled her husband." 762 nudged Wakka's slowly-stirring form with the toe of his boot.

Nodding, the stormtrooper instead pulled Lulu toward the speeder. Waving 495 over, 762 pulled Wakka to his feet, pulling one arm around his neck while 495 did the same with his other. Together, they dragged him back to the speeder and sat him up inside next to Lulu. The loadmaster walked over and silently put Wakka's hands in binders, then nodded to the two guards.

762 placed the bag behind Lulu's feet, set so that her dress concealed it, then turned and walked around to the front of the speeder, where a couple of stormtroopers were sweeping the village once more for anyone left behind. One of the stormtroopers walked up to 762 and nodded respectfully. "We've searched the village, Lieutenant," the stormtrooper said. "There's no one left."

"Alright, get your men on board and let's get out of here," 762 replied with a nod.

Nodding, the stormtrooper waved to his men, who all immediately made for the speeder. 762 waited until they were all aboard, then climbed into the back of the speeder and sat down beside Wakka, across from 495. After receiving a gentle nudge in his side, 762 glanced over to see a surreptitiously-delivered nod of approval from Wakka, who was still shaking off the effects of the stun beam.

Within minutes, the group had reached the dock at the beach, where a ship heading to Luca was waiting. 762 hopped out of the speeder so that the squad could begin moving the villagers out and onto the ship, grabbing the bag as he did so. He waved over the next ranking man in the squad and moved a few feet away from the speeder.

"You know the drill. Once we get everyone on the boat, we'll be taking off. JN-495 and I will go with the boat. You and the rest of the squad load up on the shuttles and get clear of the island. It'll be a smoldering ruin before long."

The other stormtrooper nodded, then motioned toward the bag. "Will do. What've you got there?"

"Just a few souvenirs," 762 replied, opening the bag and showing its contents to the stormtrooper. "That's a blitzball," he said, pointing to the World Champion. "It's the sport they play on this world for entertainment. And the doll's for my wife. She collects those things."

"Ah," the stormtrooper said. "Yeah, she'll like that." The stormtrooper nodded. "Well, good luck. We'll see you when you get back, I guess."

"Until then."

Closing up the bag, 762 followed the last of the villagers across the dock and onto the boat. The stormtroopers directing them guided them into the cabins below deck, then nodded to 762 as they left the ship and headed for the _Lambda_-class shuttles parked up the beach. Once they were all gone, 762 set the bag down on the deck and turned to 495.

"Tell the captain to set sail immediately."

495 nodded and headed off to do just that. For his part, 762 picked up the bag again and headed downstairs, looking in each of the rooms until he found the one that Lulu and Wakka had been put in. Walking in, he put their bag on the deck and removed Wakka's binders.

"I guess I should've given you a better warning about the stun bolt," he said to the blitzer.

"Nah, don't worry about it," Wakka replied, waving his hand in front of him as soon as he was released. "I've taken harder hits in the sphere pool, ya. I'll be fine."

762 nodded. "I'll have to see a blitzball game someday. Sounds interesting." He turned toward the door. "Stay down here for now until we're well on our way. That way the rest of the squad won't see you wandering around on deck."

The couple nodded, and 762 walked back out of the cabin and onto the deck. The captain had already gotten underway and was moving quickly away from Besaid. No doubt 495 had told him what was about to happen to the island and the captain had no desire to be caught in it.

About five minutes later, as 762 stood on the rear of the ship's deck toward the quickly-receding Besaid Island, the first of the heavy turbolaser blasts streaked down from the sky. Thick green bolts the width of a landspeeder crashed into the island, reducing its buildings to rubble, flattening geological formations, incinerating ruins, and lighting the forests ablaze. Obnoxious black smoke rose high into the sky as the first shockwaves and explosive sounds of the bombardment reached the boat, churning the seas and giving the captain quite a fight to remain on course.

In minutes, all that could be seen of Besaid was a little piece of land right on the water. Right above that were the angry red flames of the forest fires sweeping the island. And towering over all that, reaching high into the atmosphere, was the black cloud of smoke fueled from the destruction of so many peoples' homes.

762 watched the carnage silently, the red flames of the fire reflecting distantly from the black eye visors of his helmet. This was what the Empire brought to those worlds under its control. Clenching his armored hands around the deck railing, he swore to the gods of the universe that he would not allow the Empire to destroy this world the way they had destroyed that island.

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry for the update delay. Laziness slapped me in the face. Nothing really to say about this one, 'cept that the quick transition from village to beach to ship to out to sea at the end kind of irks me. But there are times when my descriptions run rather shallow so... Eh, you get the bad with the good, yanno. On to the shout-outs. 

**SevenTowers: **Well, I've definitely got the slow build-up concept down. x.x I'd like it a lot more if I could come up with more build-up material to put in though. Y'see, when I scan for fics to read, I first look at the description, to see if I agree with the pairing/concept/yadda yadda. Then I look at the number of chapters. I figure, if a story's got 15 or more chapters, it's GOT to be worth reading. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if Shadows of the Empire will even make 15. x.x

**Morgaine of the Fairies:** Eh, heh heh. Yes. You will see lots of Farplane ass-kickage in this fic. Hah, I almost called it a game. X3 That'd be cool if they made this into a game. I have this one battle scene envisioned where Lenne and Shuyin lead an attack against the Empire's goons, and I just hope that I can do my vision justice.

**Wolfy16:** You're damn right the Empire's about to get beat ten ways from Sunday. And hey, what can I say? Even though they're dead, it's still their world too.

**Furitaurus:** AvPvFF is yours? xx I had peeked into that one once, but it looked to me like it was set up in script format, with descriptions of camera angles and all that. No offense to you, but I just don't like reading things that are set up that way. I want to read more along the lines of a novel, not a movie script.

And heh. You want action? Oh, you'll get all the action you can handle, and then some, soon. Don't know how soon, but soon.


	8. Chapter Eight: Birth of the Rebellion

A pair of Imperial stormtroopers meandered along the Mushroom Rock Road on their patrol, boredly glancing around every now and again for any signs of rebels. They chatted over their private helmet comlinks as they went, discussing how boring patrol duty was, and how they almost wished that there was genuine Rebel activity on Spira.

Behind a rocky outcropping, the red-haired second-in-command of the Youth League glanced out, affirming that there were only two stormtroopers, then glanced to another outcrop across the path. She pointed to her eyes, then held up two fingers. She paused, then circled her hands around each other once before crossing them over her throat at the wrists. After a nod, she brought her hands up to shoulder level, placing them palms against each other and tilted toward her right. Then she made a motion of someone sweeping something away with both hands. Taken together, those were the hand signals for "Kill silently, and hide the bodies."

Across the path, her black-haired companion nodded and turned away. She turned away as well and signaled her orders to the men near her. She had three of the Youth League's finest soldiers with her. One would make the kill, while the other two would cover him. They didn't want to have to fire their weapons; that would give them away faster than if the stormtroopers managed to get out a signal before they were killed.

Within a few minutes, the stormtroopers wandered past the outcroppings and continued on their way, oblivious to the danger surrounding them. Less than a second after the stormtroopers were well past, two unarmored soldiers of the Youth League darted out, dashing up behind the stormtroopers faster than the white-clad shock troops could react.

Almost simultaneously, the two Youth League fighters got a hand on the helmets' chins, the other on the back of their heads, and jerked their arms quickly to one side or the other. The snapping of the stormtroopers' necks could easily be heard from the concealed positions. Wrapping their arms around their inert cargo, the two Youth League soldiers dragged the stormtroopers back behind the outcroppings.

The three soldiers quickly stripped their stormtrooper of his armor and bodysuit, then two of them cast a series of mid-level Fira spells to immolate the body while the third outfitted himself in the armor. Meanwhile, the red-haired leader kept watch for more Imperial patrols. Across the way, she knew that their companions would be doing the same thing.

After fully suiting up, the armor-clad Youth League soldier, one of their technical experts and demolitions specialists, pulled out a hand-held comlink and synched it with his helmet comlink, then handed it to his leader. Then he stepped out from behind the outcropping, almost simultaneously with his new partner from across the way. In silence, the two of them made their way toward the elevator up to the Youth League headquarters.

---

The two stormtroopers standing guard at the elevator nodded in greeting as the patrolling pair walked past them toward the command center. The other pair nodded in return and continued on their way. The two at the elevator returned to their private conversation, when a flash of yellow and blue to his left drew his attention toward a young man with blond hair simply standing on the elevator platform, a sheathed sword at his right side, staring contemptfully at them.

"You there!" the stormtrooper said. "This is a restricted area. You can't be here."

"You came to Spira seeking destruction," the young man said in a menacing voice, ignoring the stormtrooper's words. "If death is what you came for…" In a flash of movement too fast to have been accurately followed, he had drawn his sword and dropped down into a fighting stance. "Then I shall be your reaper!"

Before the stormtroopers could react, he had dashed forward, swinging his sword up and into the unprotected joint at the first stormtrooper's right elbow. The sword sliced through bodysuit, flesh, and bone with no difficulty, severing the man's limb with an outcry of pain which was quickly interrupted as the young man spun around, sword flashing. Mere seconds later, the stormtrooper's headless body collapsed to the rocky ground outside the Youth League headquarters.

The second stormtrooper quickly backed away from the young man, bringing his E-11 around and firing hot red bolts at him. Expecting to see the man collapse to the ground with charred craters in his torso, the stormtrooper was instead greeted by the sight of the blaster bolts passing right through him without harming him at all.

Stopping, the young man looked down at where the bolts had passed through him, then he slowly brought his head back up to stare the stormtrooper in the eye, grinning evilly as he did so. "You can call me Death."

As he spoke those words, the young man gestured with his free hand toward the stormtrooper and a black haze formed between them. From the center of that haze formed a bodiless creature that chuckled evilly, its only limb ending in a three-clawed silver hand. The creature struck out at the stormtrooper, who tried in vain to block the blow as its claws passed directly through armor and body alike, reaching into his very soul and grabbing that essence of life. Still laughing evilly, the creature removed its clawed hand, clutching a glowing orange orb within. It held the orb before the stormtrooper's gaze for a few theatrical moments, then, with a flick of its wrist, crushed the orb flat. Instantly, the stormtrooper clattered to the ground, lifeless, and the avatar of Death vanished.

Shuyin turned away from his victims, toward the Imperial command center attached to the Youth League headquarters. He gestured toward the building, calling out as he did so, "Come, fiends! Let us purge this repulsive Empire!"

There were two stormtroopers ahead of him, but he made no move to attack them. He knew that they were disguised agents of the Youth League; he had watched the ambush on the lower path. He was not worried about them, knowing that no fiends would attack them. Sword in hand, he charged past the ersatz stormtroopers, a horde of fiends crawling out of the nooks and crannies of the canyon and following in his wake.

---

At Kilika Temple, a quartet of stormtroopers exited out into the daylight on another routine patrol, only to stop when they found a young woman wearing blue with long brown hair standing directly in their path. The Empire hadn't declared the temple off-limits, and the stormtroopers were somewhat used to the locals staring at them oddly by now, but this woman was unfamiliar to them.

"Step aside, Miss," the lead stormtrooper said as politely as possible. "You're blocking our way."

Instead of replying, the woman merely smiled coldly and gestured with her right hand.

On the ground at her feet, a guttering flame rose several inches, which she ducked down into. As she did so, four curving arms of fire spiraled out of the center of the flame, forming a circle of charred ground around her. A runic symbol flashed in the circle's bounds before the ground splintered and shattered upwards. Half-molten rocks flew into the air a short distance before solidifying, with the woman on top of them, forming a capsule of sorts around the monstrous canine-like form contained within.

With a flex of its hugely-muscled arms, the beast broke free of the binding rocks, leaping up into the air and raising up its right arm just as the woman came down and landed in the crook of its arm. The beast dropped back to the ground on three limbs, the right arm still holding the woman in place. It lowered its arm to let her hop down to the ground, then reared back and let out a terrifying roar, flames filling the air around its open maw.

The stormtroopers backed away from the monster in fear, but not without getting a good look at it. The pair of horns curving back behind its head must've been ten feet long, the claws that tipped each of its fingers and toes were at least two feet long each, and looked fully capable of slicing through plastoid armor in a heartbeat. Fires smoldered in at least four locations on its brown-skinned body, and its eyes burned the color of fire.

"Destroy them," the woman spoke, waving her hand toward the stormtroopers.

Loping forward like a dog, the beast rushed the four troopers. As the troopers brought their blaster carbines around in an effort to defend themselves, the beast somersaulted forward, avoiding the first of their blaster bolts, and raised its right arm in midair.

Its victim did not even have time to scream as the razor-edged claws sliced through armor, flesh, and bone with equal speed, shredding the stormtrooper where he stood and allowing the different slices to collapse in a bloody heap on the steps of the temple.

The other stormtroopers quickly turned and fired on the beast. But as they stared in growing horror, the flaming beast simply seemed to absorb the energy of their blaster bolts. It turned toward two of the stormtroopers that were standing near each other and reared back on its hind legs, forming a huge ball of flame in front of its mouth, which it smashed its right palm into. The ball of fire shot forward faster than they could blink, smashing to the ground in their midst and quickly reducing them to nothing more than flaming cinders.

Turning toward the last stormtrooper, the beast merely lifted its left hand and backhanded the armored troop, sending him flying back against the walls of the temple with bone crushing force. The trooper fell limply to the ground and did not get up again.

Lenne looked around her, surveying the carnage of the four troopers' deaths. Focusing on her magic abilities, she brought her hands together before her, then lifted her right hand into the air. A modified Fire spell shot into the sky, signaling the rebellious citizens in Kilika Port that the temple was soon to be under her control.

She dismissed Ifrit with a gesture of her hand, then turned and headed toward the entrance into the temple. She gathered electrical energy in her body, her hands sparking and sizzling with lightning as she strode forward.

The two doors to the antechambers beside the main entrance opened almost simultaneously, and stormtroopers, a half dozen total, stepped out of both doors. The leader of the group on her right spotted her, leveled his blaster carbine. "You there–"

He never finished his sentence. Lenne raised both her hands, pointing them toward the two individual groups and releasing the charge of electricity built up inside her. Thick blue bolts of lightning shot out of her fingertips, arcing across the distance in an instant and slamming full-on into all six stormtroopers. The air filled with the smell of charred meat as the massive charge of energy electrocuted the stormtroopers.

One of the poor unlucky fellows who caught the lightning in the wrong way flew off the ground as the water in his cells vaporized and exploded, liquefying his body instantly. The now-empty armor clattered noisily to the ground, with melted stormtrooper leaking out of the smoldering body suit.

Grimacing slightly at the grisly remains of the stormtrooper, she turned away from the growing pile of corpses and walked down the steps leading into the temple. As she reached the bottom, she could see another half-dozen stormtroopers hunkered down behind the statues for cover, their blasters aiming toward the doorway she was entering through.

"It's her!" one of the stormtroopers said. "Blast her!"

Lenne waved her left hand before her as the stormtroopers opened fire, and a translucent blue shield materialized around her, stopping the blaster bolts cold. One of the stormtroopers pulled a spherical object off his belt, then depressed a button on the top, which began to flash red, before throwing it at her. She knew right away what it was.

Running forward, she caught the grenade out of the air, then spun quickly and hurled it toward the cluster of stormtroopers on her left. Spotting their own explosive device sailing toward them, the stormtroopers started to dive out of the way, but Lenne solved that quickly enough by sending a Fira spell after the grenade, detonating it directly over the troopers. The explosive force shattered the two nearby statues, and wasn't much nicer to the three stormtroopers caught in its blast radius.

She spun quickly, turning toward the last three stormtroopers, pulling her combination microphone and summoning staff from her side as she did so. Flipping the weapon so that she held it by the microphone end, she crossed her right arm over her body and flung it out toward the stormtroopers. The sharp end of the weapon pierced the black material of one of the stormtroopers' eye visor, driving all the way through to splinter the back of the man's helmet.

As the last two stormtroopers began to reassess their chances of survival, Lenne reached her left hand into the air as the warm sensation of magic flowed through her body. With the lowering of her arm across her body and the loose clenching of her fist, the spell casting was complete and she shot across the room faster than the stormtroopers could follow her.

Her slender fingers wrapped around the pole of her summoning staff as she jerked it from the head of the lifeless stormtrooper with a spray of blood and brain matter. Spinning on her heel with an audible squeak, she lashed out with the sharpened lower edge of the staff, slicing across the throat of the dumbfounded stormtrooper nearest her who had yet to realize that she was standing beside him rather than across the room. Blood sprayed from his throat and she blinked her eyes shut as the crimson fluid splashed onto her face.

As that man's blaster clattered to the ground while he reached up to stem the tide of blood flowing from his throat, Lenne spun one more time and struck forward with the staff, the end of it driving through the throat of the last stormtrooper. The dying man reached up in an attempt to pull his throat free from her staff, but she saved him the trouble. She tore the staff free of his throat as she spun around, bringing up her right boot and planting it firmly into the stormtrooper's torso plate with the extra momentum of her spin. The force of her kick took the stormtrooper off his feet and sent him flying across the chamber.

Turning away before the loud crash of the stormtrooper hitting the far wall reached her, Lenne surveyed the carnage she had caused. A part of her reeled back in shock at the devastation she had wrought, but outwardly there was no sign of that shock. She had learned long ago, on the front lines of the Machina War, how to be vicious, brutal, and lethal. Those skills would aid Spira well in the coming days.

Scoffing slightly, she reached up her left hand and wiped the stormtrooper's blood off of her face, leaving horizontal crimson streaks on her forehead and left cheek. She took one last glance around, then closed her eyes and tapped into an ability that all the spirits of the Farplane possessed.

_Kilika Temple is mine,_ she thought.

_Good,_ Shuyin's voice responded in her mind. _The Youth League headquarters is almost under control. They summoned their fighter craft before we took out their command center. It's going to get busy soon._

_Shall I send Bahamut to assist you?_

_No, that won't be necessary. We found some portable missile launchers here that we can take down their craft with._

_Very well. I'm going to go assist the uprising in the village. Any news yet from Sir Jecht?_

_No, no word of the Mi'ihen Highroad. I expect that the rebels in that area will take many casualties. There is almost nowhere to hide on the Highroad._

_I am not worried. Sir Jecht can handle things there._

_Nor am I. _There was only the slightest pause before Shuyin continued. _Be careful, Lenne._

She smiled. _You, too._

---

The group of Imperial forces marched quickly along the Mi'ihen Highroad, the formation led by a pair of AT-ST Imperial Scout Walkers. Directly behind them was a TX-130S fighter tank that presumably carried the commander of this convoy. Marching along behind the vehicles in a stately fashion were fifty Imperial stormtroopers.

All of them were totally unaware of the hundred and fifty Youth League fighters and warrior monks who waited, armed with weapons salvaged by Rikku and Gippal, for the moment for the battle to commence. They were hunkered down into the grass, hugging the ground to keep the Imperials in the AT-STs, with their higher field of vision, from seeing them.

Farther up the Highroad, two Youth League demolitions specialists waited atop a rock formation beside the road, each armed with a salvaged Merr-Sonn PLX missile launcher. It was their job to take out the AT-STs at the front of the formation. Scattered in trees along the route were a half-dozen marksmen of both the Youth League and New Yevon, armed with DC-15x sniper rifles and using the branches of the trees to brace the weapon's heavy recoil.

As the Imperial formation neared the rock outcropping, the pilot of the leftmost AT-ST suddenly spotted movement atop the rock. Glancing in that direction, he saw two men wearing the livery of the Youth League aiming PLX launchers directly at his walker.

"Look out!" the pilot shouted, manipulating his controls to bring the chin-mounted blaster cannons to bear on their attackers. "Missile launchers on the rocks!"

It was too late. In an instant, two rockets flashed out directly toward the walker. The first impacted against the outer hull on its left side, deeply cratering the armor. The second arced straight through the open forward viewport, slamming into the back wall inside the walker and detonating. Spewing flame and smoke, the walker shuddered, then listed heavily to the right and fell, directly into the path of the second walker.

Backpedaling quickly, the second walker's copilot swung the side-mounted lasers around and fired at the rocket-bearers, but failed to elevate the guns properly; the twin laser blasts chewed into the rock formation but did no harm to the already-moving Youth League fighters.

A streaking blue laser bolt suddenly shot into the cockpit of the walker, crushing the copilot's face and slumping his body over in his seat. The pilot quickly turned the walker around to angle the open access ports to the cockpit away from where he presumed the sniper's shot had come from. As his walker came around, he saw that the Imperial platoon was under attack, taking fire from both sides of the Highroad, and from trees which contained snipers.

Angling toward the east side of the Highroad, the pilot sent his walker lumbering forward, firing his heavy anti-infantry blaster cannons toward the origins of the enemy blaster bolts. Some of the rebels scattered and others flew into the air or simply collapsed over dead as grass ignited.

The light repulsorlift tank swung around to the opposite side of the Highroad, firing its heavy blaster cannons into the grass as the stormtrooper manning the laser cannon swept the coursing beam across the area, cutting down a few of the rebels. The stormtroopers on the road fanned out into the grass, moving to engage the enemy in an area where they had slight cover as well.

A rocket whizzed past the side of the AT-ST. The pilot laboriously turned his vehicle around and fired the main blasters at the retreating form of the Youth League demolitions specialist. The figure was already moving behind the rock formation by the time the pilot fired, and he doubted he'd managed to kill the enemy.

Keeping the walker's head angled down to prevent the enemy snipers from shooting into the cockpit like they had before, the pilot turned his walker fully toward the formation and advanced forward. Moving to come around the side of it and get an angled shot against whoever might be hiding behind it, the pilot turned the walker's head to the left and held his finger ready over the firing studs.

As he passed closest to the rock formation, he felt something hit the top of the walker's cockpit and assumed that the rebels were throwing grenades at him. Mere seconds later, the top hatch wrenched open, and the pilot turned back just in time to see the DC-15 blaster pistol wielded by the Youth League soldier spitting hot blue light at him. Then he saw no more.

Yaibal took a moment to look at his handiwork, then holstered the blaster and dropped into the cockpit, moving into the copilot's seat. He stared at the unfamiliar controls and levers before him in absolute confusion.

He didn't look up as the Al Bhed who would pilot the stolen walker dropped into the cockpit, pulling the body of the Imperial pilot out of the seat and dumping it behind the pilot's chairs. The goggled man grinned over at Yaibal, then pointed to two sticks with red buttons on top of them.

"Those are all you've got to worry about," the Al Bhed said. "They direct the cannons on the sides of the head. Left for left, right for right. Red button shoots." He pointed to a screen showing holographic images from cameras mounted to the cannon barrels. "Watch those screens and shoot when your crosshairs are more or less right on a target."

Yaibal nodded and wrapped his hands around the control sticks, moving them experimentally a few times to get a feel for how the camera images changed, and how the cannons themselves would react. After a few moments, he gave a thumbs up over to the Al Bhed pilot. "Ready!"

Nodding, the pilot grabbed his own controls and began to turn the walker around.

Jecht looked up from driving his broadsword through the chestplate of a stormtrooper commander as the walker turned around and stalked toward the battle. The walker advanced at a fast pace, turning its boxy cockpit toward the Imperial light repulsorlift tank. All at once, a hail of blaster fire poured from both the blaster cannons mounted under its chin and the two light cannons on either side of its head. The tank seemed to vanish under the barrage of light from the sustained blaster fire, until it exploded seconds later, knocking over two stormtroopers who had sought shelter near it and probably killing them with the concussive explosion force.

The stormtroopers along the western side of the Highroad were too busy fighting with the Youth League and New Yevon fighters to notice the stolen walker bearing down on them, its blaster cannons raining destruction on them. One of the stormtroopers looked back just soon enough to see the Al Bhed manning the pilot's seat, and called out over the comlink, "Look out! The rebels took the walker!"

On the other side of the Highroad, stormtroopers looked back to see the walker attacking their own forces and suddenly had a decision to make. They could continue fighting against a numerically-superior enemy who had them surrounded on all sides using one of their own vehicles and die down to the last stormtrooper, or surrender and live.

They chose the former option.

Steeling themselves against their inevitable fate, the stormtroopers charged out, firing their blasters as fast as their fingers could pull the triggers. A dozen Spirans fell before the remainder shook off their shock and returned fire.

The stolen walker waded into the middle of the mess, firing its blaster cannons at concentrations of stormtroopers, killing them three and four at a time. The snipers also took their toll, downing stormtroopers in waves who had thought themselves safe just moments before.

Within minutes, the last stormtrooper on the Highroad collapsed to the dusty ground with a shriek of anguish, clutching dully at a smoking crater on his chest. Jecht lowered his broadsword to his side as a triumphant cheer coursed through the ranks of the surviving Spirans on the Highroad. He looked around at the cheering soldiers around him, tossing those nearby a cocky grin.

The Spirans were winning these battles against the Empire. Though they were minor skirmishes, and only killed a handful of the Imperial troops at a time, they were _winning_. Victory equaled confidence, as any blitzer knew. Victory also meant experience, which was something sorely needed by the people of Spira.

And on top of that, they were taking territory. Shuyin's blitzball-style assault with fiends for backup on the Mushroom Rock Road quickly managed to recapture an easily-defended area with many caves and other places to hide should the Empire attempt to siege there. Tales of Lenne's vicious and dominating attack on Kilika Temple would quickly spread through the ranks of the Empire. Those stories would give them pause to think about forces canny enough to control fiends and annihilate whole squads of stormtroopers with little apparent effort. It was yet another advantage that Spira desperately needed.

Jecht only hoped that they could hold off the Empire long enough for Yuna to complete enough of her training. Adding a Jedi into the mix of destructive and unstoppable forces besieging the Empire would sow more discord into their ranks.

The dark-skinned blitzer looked up toward the stolen walker, flashing a thumbs-up and a grin to the two who had stolen it. Then he turned and waved down the cheering of his forces, drawing their attention to him.

"Listen up, men! We did good work here today, but we're not finished. We're going to push forward and reclaim the entire Highroad. Congratulate yourselves on a job well done. We've shown the Empire that we're determined to throw them off our land."

He waited as more cheers and congratulatory remarks filtered through the soldiers under his command, then nodded again. "The Highroad is a vital choke point, but it will be very hard to keep control of. The faster we take the Highroad, the faster Luca will fall. Now let's go! To the next battle!"

Letting out a tremendous roar of enthusiasm that Jecht was sure could be heard from the Farplane, his men charged forward toward the travel agency, their stolen Imperial AT-ST in the lead.

---

As Jecht's forces waged battle with the Imperials outside the travel agency, and Lenne reported the last of the Imperial forces in Kilika had been finished, it was night in the Calm Lands. Not that it mattered; as far back as they were into the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth, night and day were relative. 

Yuna opened her eyes silently, remaining still so as not to disturb Tidus. The blond blitzer slept behind her on the stone floor of the cavern, one arm wrapped protectively around her waist.

Breathing slowly, she leaned back against Tidus, reaching out through her fledgling power over the Force to seek out and amplify those feelings that had been so vivid in her dreams. She could sense wellsprings of powerful emotion from three different locations in Spira: Kilika, Mushroom Rock Road, and the Mi'ihen Highroad.

Furrowing her brow in frustration, she stretched her senses out toward the emotional signature she had long ago known to be Lenne. The young songstress was a blur of emotion. She sensed an almost equal amount of anger and determination, with just a tinge of regret. Without knowing any details, Yuna knew that Lenne had slaughtered mercilessly that day, and did not enjoy doing it.

Yuna let out a breath she had been holding, and reached out her feelings to Lenne, attempting a new ability that Luke had taught her that same day. She reached out, touching Lenne's heart, and spoke only four words to her friend's heart. _Everything will be okay._

She smiled slightly as she felt Lenne's confusion, and she could almost see the smile forming on the singer's lips as she realized that Yuna had been the one to try and calm her heart. Withdrawing her sensation back to the narrow cavern around her, she turned slightly, staring with one green eye toward the sleeping form of Tidus, his head laid against her back.

Lifting her right arm, she pressed the first two fingers of her hand to her lips, then twisted her arm and lightly touched those same fingers to his lips. He stirred at her motion, his sky blue eyes opening in the darkness. "Yuna? Is something wrong?"

"Maybe," she replied, rolling over to lie face-to-face with the love of her life. "They have begun," she said softly, wrapping her arms around him. "They have struck the first blows against the Empire, and they have won. The Rebellion has been born."

He reached up with his right hand, gently brushing a strand of hair out of her face before kissing her forehead. "Don't worry, Yuna. Shuyin, Lenne, Auron, and our old men are leading them. Everything will be fine."

She nodded once, then looked into his eyes and smiled. "I will become a Jedi," she said. "And you're going to help me."

* * *

** A/N:** This chapter is something of a reward to those of you who have suffered through chapter after chapter with little to no action, and have been waiting breathlessly for stormtroopers to start getting their asses kicked. Rest assured friends, the time is at hand! Let the battles commence! I have purchased Stunner, Inc's entire stock of Whoop-Ass, and I intend to open every last can. And now, on to shout-outs. 

**Morgaine of the Fairies:** Wow, it didn't even occur to me to have Shuyin show up, just for "old time's sake." And yes, adding in rebellious stormtroopers was an awesome touch. As you'll see, with those guys on their side, the Rebels have an opportunity to get large portions of its forces into Imperial-occupied territory.

**Raven:** You lazy ass! Actually read a chapter when I give you the link!

**Wolfy16:** Fiend smackdown, you say? >:3 Ask and ye shall receive. The next encounter with Shuyin and fiends will be more satisfying, I promise.

**SevenTowers:** If you think that was something, wait until the finale. >:3 It's gonna be a mega twist I don't think anyone will have seen coming.

**Furitaurus:** Nah, Yuna's still a newbie Padawan. I didn't mention at the start of last chapter, but about a month or so passed between chapters six and seven.

**Random Note:** I'm making up a be-all, end-all overdrive for Lenne and Shuyin to use in the final battle against the Empire. I'm going to work my ass off to intricately describe every maneuver, every action, and every brutal death that is met at the hands of their ultimate overdrive, which is called The Song of Ultimate End. Look forward to it. Maybe I'll also come up with some kind of sidequest that they have to go on to acquire it. But with the timing issues of the war, I don't know about that.


	9. Chapter Nine: Shuyin's Plan

Things had gone badly for Spira's rebellion over the past couple weeks, Shuyin mused from the Farplane glen. After those first few victories against the Empire's forces, the Imperial troops had rallied about and dealt crushing defeat after crushing defeat. The Youth League forces led by Jecht at the Mi'ihen Highroad had been completely wiped out, down to the last man. For obvious reasons, Jecht was the only survivor.

They had failed to take Luca; the Imperials had air-dropped an entire battalion of stormtroopers and four AT-ST walkers into the city, forcing the rebels to surrender. Kilika was fortunate enough not to have been completely destroyed. It was still in Spira's hands, but the Empire had surrounded the island by sea and air, and Shuyin knew that Spira's forces wouldn't last much longer under the siege.

Mushroom Rock Road was still under their control. That was largely due to all the fiends Shuyin had concentrated in that area, setting them upon every stormtrooper patrol that dared to set foot into the rocky canyon. The Empire hadn't brought their walkers to play yet because the terrain was too difficult for the balance-oriented walkers to handle.

The biggest problem to their rebellion, Shuyin knew, was that damned Super Star Destroyer orbiting the planet. Whatever they managed to cause on Spira could be undone in a heartbeat with an orbital bombardment. The Empire had gotten wind that survivors of the Mi'ihen disaster and Luca had taken refuge in the fading Macalania forest. Not an hour later, the woods had been reduced to burning cinders by the Empire's delicate grace.

Shuyin tightly clenched his fists. All the hatred between Spirans that he had loathed for a thousand years was nothing compared to the destructive power of the Empire. If only he had waited a few more months, then Vegnagun could have been used against the Super Star Destroyer.

Suddenly, he felt gentle hands on his shoulders, interrupting him from his thoughts. Those hands slid down over his chest and linked together as Lenne leaned against his back, laying her head against the back of his neck.

All at once, his anger at the Empire was shoved from the front of his mind. It was still there, seething and boiling, but it was no longer the focus of his attention. "I didn't notice you coming," he said with a smile.

"You were lost in your thoughts," she answered. "I didn't want to disturb you."

He sat there amidst the flowers, with Lenne leaning against him, for several long moments. He didn't want this moment to end, but he knew she had news. She wouldn't have come back without information. "You confirmed the rumors?" he asked finally.

"Yes. The Empire has kicked all the civilians out of Bevelle and locked it down tight. Even I had difficulty getting in. I have no clue what they may be trying to do there."

He nodded, brushing his hands against the nearby flowers. "And the rumors about something happening in the Thunder Plains?"

"Braska is looking into that. He told me to come back here and rest for a while."

Shuyin smiled and turned halfway around. Lenne lifted her head from his back as he did so, and he reached out his right hand to brush a long strand of brown hair out of her face. "You are doing a lot for us, Lenne. I am very grateful. You deserve to take a break."

She smiled warmly at him. "You know, it's rather funny. For a thousand years, you waited and plotted for Spira's destruction. And now, as this war rages that could destroy Spira, you were the first to pick up your sword in its defense."

He smirked in return. "It was you who opened my eyes, Lenne. You showed me that I was wrong."

The songstress shook her head. "Thank Yuna. You wouldn't have even listened had she and the others not destroyed Vegnagun and beaten you."

Shuyin nodded mutely, staring down at the ground. "It's almost a shame that they did destroy Vegnagun."

Lenne looked up at him, her eyes wide with shock and fear.

He met eyes with her, and winced at her expression. "No, no, let me explain. If they hadn't destroyed Vegnagun, then we would've had one shot, maybe two, at taking down the Super Star Destroyer."

She sighed with relief, pressing one hand to her chest as she struggled to return her breathing to normal. "For a moment…"

"Never," he said quickly. "I would never even think to destroy Spira again."

Smiling, she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm glad."

He didn't reply verbally. She heard a faint snapping sound, and looked down to see his hand coming up with a flower in it. Her smile widening, she turned her head to one side so that he could slide the stem of the flower through the curtain of her hair and rest it against her ear.

His fingers gently touched her chin, turning her head back toward him. She closed her eyes as he leaned toward her.

"Whoa, sorry, didn't know we were interrupting!" Jecht's brash voice called out, causing Shuyin to pull back from Lenne in surprise.

Lenne opened her eyes slowly, uttering a little whimper of irritation, then turned her fiercely-blushing face toward the trio that stood nearby. Jecht was grinning like a fool, obviously proud of himself for breaking the mood. Auron was shaking his head at Jecht's immaturity, and Braska looked apologetic. Sighing, Lenne left herself a mental reminder to get back at Jecht later.

"Hey Braska," Jecht continued, oblivious, "you think my boy and little Yuna try to pull this stuff too?"

"Of course they do, Jecht," Braska replied, shaking his head. "They're in love. That's what you do when you're in love. Right, Shuyin?"

Grinning, Shuyin put an arm around Lenne and gave Braska a thumbs-up with his other hand.

"Not my boy," Jecht rambled on. "I better have taught him better manners than that. If I catch him trying to get all kissy-faced with Yuna, I'll put him in his place!"

Lenne suddenly grinned mischievously at the idea of talking Yuna and Tidus into making out in front of Jecht, then leaned over and made her idea known to Shuyin, who glanced at her with an evil glint to his eyes.

By the look he was giving them, Braska figured they were up to some kind of practical joke. Smiling a conspiratorial smile, he went ahead with the reason for their visit. "Well, I finished looking around the Thunder Plains. There's a heavy concentration of Imperial activity there, and they're fiercely guarding the caves. They must have built, or are building, something that is vital to them."

"Whatever it is, it's connected to Bevelle," Auron said. "There are only Imperials in that city, now. They're expecting us to eventually mass and go after Bevelle, and they plan to make a fight of it."

"We need to gather all the leaders together and discuss our plans," Jecht said, all-business now. "I think that we should let them bulk up Bevelle all they want to, while we go around Spira kicking their asses out of every other place. Then when we have the rest of Spira under our control, we kick their sorry asses off of our planet!"

"And once we've killed every soldier of the Empire on Spira, they use their Star Destroyer and pound the surface of the planet flat," Auron replied. "What then?"

"Actually," Lenne said, "Shuyin has an idea about that."

The trio turned toward the blitzer, silent.

"Vegnagun," Shuyin said, without preamble.

Braska's expression was openly shocked. Jecht stumbled back as though he'd been gut-punched, and Auron merely raised the brow over his good eye.

"Are you crazy!?" Jecht burst out. "Even if Yuna and the others hadn't trashed that thing, that'd be a fool's errand! Vegnagun could go crazy and destroy all of Spira, or it could even self-destruct with the same result!"

"It's a risk we have to take!" Lenne shot back, voice and expression hard. "Yes, it's chancy at best. Yes, using Vegnagun could end up destroying Spira. But what would happen if we allowed their Super Star Destroyer to remain up there, where it can raze the entire planet? We still lose."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, calming herself. She felt Shuyin take one of her hands and squeeze gently, and smiled at the thoughtfulness he was giving her. When she finally opened her eyes, she fixed Jecht with a cool stare that made the older man take a step back.

"Jecht, our backs are to the wall. We must use every method we can, despite the risks. Our very survival is in question here. It's a blitzer's saying, Jecht. Remember it? 'When you have the ball, you have to score.'" Truthfully, Lenne wouldn't even know about the sayings of blitzball players were it not for Shuyin. "Vegnagun is our ball, Jecht. We have to score."

"She has a point, Jecht," Braska said. "If we could destroy the Star Destroyer with Vegnagun, we would have a decisive edge. The Empire doesn't know that Vegnagun is broken, that we wouldn't dare use it twice if it weren't." The former high summoner turned to Shuyin. "Are you sure this will work?"

Shuyin nodded. "Most of Vegnagun's higher capacities were destroyed, but it still has power. It can probably fire, but only once. Getting it pointed up at the Star Destroyer will be tough, but we can do it."

Lenne brought her other hand around and held Shuyin's in both of hers as she stared at him intently. "I will help you. The fayth will help you."

He looked over at her and nodded, smiling.

Auron glanced at the occupants of the Farplane glen, then turned away. "I'll begin getting the leaders together. We shall meet in the Farplane from Guadosalam."

---

Darth Vader stood looking out the bridge viewports of the _Executor_, down to Spira turning silently below them. His rhythmical and steady breathing filled the bridge, yet did not distract any of the crewmen from their tasks. The Dark Lord of the Sith reached out through the Force, searching for that now-familiar disturbance in the natural flow of the Force.

He could still sense her, down there somewhere, but he could no more pinpoint her location than the location of the Rebel fleet gallivanting across space. Skywalker must have been teaching her how to hide herself, and teaching her well.

He was not concerned. In time, she would seek him out. He had forseen it.

"Lord Vader," a bridge crewman said, prompting the Dark Lord to turn.

"Yes, Lieutenant? What is it?"

"We've located the sunken Republic cruiser that the rebels have been drawing their weapons from."

"Very well, Lieutenant. You may fire when ready."

The officer turned away, and Vader turned his attention back toward the viewports. A few moments later, he felt a gentle thrum through the deck of the ship as the heavy bombardment turbolasers flashed out, seeking a target down in the depths of Spira's oceans.

He watched the turbolasers continue to fire down onto the planet, just as they already had twice before. Huge gouts of steam rose from the turbolasers' point of impact, blocking his vision of the target area.

The barrage lasted for several minutes, then the turbolasers suddenly cut out and a crewman reported, "Target destroyed."

Almost simultaneously, a communications officer looked up from the crew pit. "Lord Vader, there is a hypercomm transmission from Coruscant for you."

Vader immediately turned and strode toward the exit of the bridge. "I will take it in my quarters, Lieutenant."

Several minutes later, Vader kneeled down upon the holoprojection platform and lowered his head in the darkened chamber as the blue-white holoimage of Emperor Palpatine's hooded head appeared in midair.

"What is thy bidding, my master?" Vader asked.

"_It is time for you to abandon your tiresome venture around that useless planet. Their weapons are of no use to us, and their Sin is no more. The construction of the Death Star is behind schedule. I want you to go there and inform Moff Jerjerrod that I will be arriving to personally oversee its completion."_

"As you wish." Vader paused, but this did not go unnoticed by the Emperor.

"_I sense that you are hesitant to leave the system. You wish to confront the descendant of Juun Toral. By all means, eliminate the young apprentice, then leave immediately for the sanctuary moon of Endor."_

"It will be my pleasure, Master."

Palpatine did not reply. His image vanished from the darkened room, leaving Vader in silence except for his heavily-mechanical breathing.

---

Yuna listened in silence to the discussion on the Farplane. The small platform was slightly crowded, being that it was occupied by herself, Tidus, Nooj, and the Rebel pilot Arren, as well as Gippal, Baralai, Rikku, Paine, Shuyin, Lenne, Braska, Jecht, Auron, Tromell, Tobli, and Kimahri. Yuna smiled faintly; she had been very pleased to hear that Kimahri had survived the massacre on Gagazet.

"No, I don't have any idea what the Empire could be trying to use Bevelle for," Baralai said, in response to the question posed. "I was pushed out of the city with the first group. I would assume that they intend to make a stand out of Bevelle. The city was designed to afford the maximum advantage to the defenders. It's been that way ever since–" Baralai abruptly stopped himself, recalling the presence of Lenne and Shuyin.

"Ever since the Machina War," Lenne said, resting her right hand on Shuyin's knee. "Do not be worried, Praetor Baralai. We bear you no ill will for events a thousand years past."

Baralai nodded his head toward her. "Thank you."

"I agree with him," Shuyin said. "That is the only thing that I can conceive of the Empire doing in Bevelle."

Arren raised his hand, turning toward Braska. "You said that you saw the Empire building something in a cave? Is there any way you could show me what you saw?"

Looking toward the Rebel pilot, Braska nodded. "Actually, there is."

As the gathered assembly watched, a single pyrefly drifted out of Braska's body and crossed the cavern to the Rebel pilot, drifting into the other man's body and disappearing. Arren shook as though he'd been punched, then closed his eyes. Several moments passed in silence.

Finally, the pyrefly reemerged from the Rebel's body and drifted back to Braska. Arren opened his eyes and took a deep breath, nodding. "It's a shield generator, like the one the Rebellion had on Hoth. The generator they're building isn't anywhere near as powerful as the one we had, so it couldn't withstand an orbital bombardment. However, it is sufficient enough to keep anything from getting into Bevelle that they don't want in."

"We'll have to destroy it," Nooj said.

"That can be done later, Noojster," Gippal replied, then motioned toward Lenne and Shuyin with one gloved hand. "They've got a pretty good idea going. Take over all of Spira, then attack Bevelle from all sides. We'll pop their shield generator just as we're ready to go in, and they won't be able to stop us."

"What about their ship?" Paine asked, arms crossed. "We saw what they did to Macalania and Besaid. There will be nothing stopping them from doing that to all of Spira if we beat them."

Silence greeted her statement. The gathered assembly looked around at one another, none of them having any idea how they could stop the Star Destroyer from raining death out of the skies. Lenne looked over at Shuyin and gently nudged him with her elbow.

He looked over at her, then nodded and turned his attention toward the others. Braska, Jecht, and Auron, he noticed, had also been watching him. Standing up, he cleared his throat to draw the others' attention to him. "We have one chance to destroy the Star Destroyer. Vegnagun."

Shocked reactions ran across the faces of those present, except for the three with whom Shuyin had already had this discussion. The meeting quickly degenerated into a series of agitated conversations between two and three people. He sighed and looked over at Lenne, having expected something like this. She flashed him a "What can you do?" smile.

"How?" Yuna asked suddenly, her voice cutting across all the conversations and silencing them instantly.

Shuyin turned toward her. "When you destroyed Vegnagun, it wasn't completely demolished. I had been charging up the final shot when you damaged the control center. It's still functional, barely. But the logic circuits were so badly fried that Vegnagun is basically nothing but a cannon with a very large tank attached to it."

"So if you can get the cannon pointed up into the sky, you can fire it and blow their ship out of space?" Tidus ventured.

"Right," Shuyin said with a nod. "The idea is to fire Vegnagun while the rest of you are fighting the Empire. There is a small chance that Vegnagun could self-destruct when I try to fire it."

"But it's a risk we have to take," Auron said, silencing any remarks from the others. "Certain death is our future if we do not destroy the ship. Vegnagun is all we can count on to do that."

Shuyin's mind suddenly flashed back to a thousand years past, when he had said similar words, but with an entirely different motive in mind. _You're all I can count on to save Lenne…_ He looked over at her, then slipped an arm around her waist.

The others all nodded their agreement to Auron's statement. Shuyin listened absently as the others went about their plans to gain control of the major towns and areas of Spira. He could only pray that Vegnagun still functioned.

Yuna suddenly gasped, sitting up straight on Tidus' lap and looking around in shock. Tidus instantly placed his hands on her shoulders in an attempt to calm her down. "Yuna, what's wrong?"

"He's coming," she gasped, breathless.

"Who's coming?" Gippal asked, quite obliviously.

"Vader," Yuna replied, her voice a whisper.

Jecht's head came up. "He's coming for Yuna!"

"But he'd gladly kill all of us just the same," Nooj answered calmly. "We have to go."

"No," Yuna said quietly, standing shakily. At the others' confused expressions, she reached down and drew her lightsaber. "You have to escape. I will hold him off."

"But Yunie…" Rikku whined, wheeling her hands in the air nervously.

"I'll be okay," Yuna said, smiling nervously at her cousin. "The Force is my ally."

"Yuna…" Tidus began.

She turned around to face him, drawing in a deep breath. "Tidus, please go with them. You can't stand up to Vader."

"But–"

"Please. I will be okay. I promise."

Tidus sighed. He didn't want to leave Yuna alone to face that monster, but he knew that he couldn't talk her into letting him stay. Sighing again, he pulled her to him for a tight hug, whispering into her ear, "I love you."

She wrapped her arms tightly around him, the cylindrical form of the lightsaber pressing into his back. "I love you. Go. Be safe. I'll come back."

He stepped away from her, sighing painfully, and felt a gloved hand gently rest on his shoulder. He looked back to see Shuyin standing there, his other hand held securely in both of Lenne's. Everyone else had already gone. "Let's go," Shuyin said softly.

Nodding, Tidus turned and left with the two of them. Yuna simply turned around, the lightsaber in hand, and stared out at the depths of the Farplane. In moments, there was only silence except for the musical sound of the pyreflies floating in the air.

Several minutes passed.

Suddenly, Yuna lifted the lightsaber at her side and thumbed the activation button, the blue-green blade hissing into life as she spun around, keeping the weapon at her side.

_Hoo-pah. Hoo-pah. Hoo-pah._

The sound of the Dark Lord's mechanical breathing suddenly broke into the silence of the Farplane as his black-armored form stepped through the opaque barrier of energy separating the Farplane from the world of the living. In his hand, the already-activated blade of his lightsaber glowed a malevolent red.

Summoning up her long-helpful courage, Yuna stared across the platform, her bi-colored gaze meeting the cold black lenses of her enemy. No words were spoken.

* * *

**A/N:** Holy damn, asses are gonna get whipped. What's this? Vegnagun? A shield generator? Onoz! Death and destruction will ensue! Oh, and also: 

HAH! Cliffhanger! Eat it! EAT IT UP LIKE I KNOW YOU WILL!

-Cough- Moving along to the shout-outs.

**SevenTowers:** I picked up an obsession with Lenne about halfway through "Birth of the Rebellion" so be expecting a lot more kickassness from her in the future.

**shadowwolf75:** It was actually pretty easy. I didn't have much trouble at all blending the worlds.

**Furitaurus:** Why didn't the Empire just bombard the surface of Hoth flat? Or Bespin? Okay, so I admit that Bespin doesn't have a surface. -- That's beside the point! Anyways, the reason why the Empire never takes the most efficient method of dealing with Rebels is three-fold. 1. The movie angle. Because the Rebels are the good guys, and the good guys always win. 2. The political angle. The Empire doesn't want to stir up more rebellion than it already has. If they go around razing every second planet, then the whole damn galaxy'll rise up against 'em. 3. The stupid angle. The Empire has the biggest fuckin' ego I have ever seen in my life, second only to a few RPers on Gaia. Every time the Rebels lay the smackdown on 'em, the Empire gets pissed off and tries to lay a smackdown right back. It usually backfires tho.

**Raven:** -Smack- Leave better reviews than that, asshat.

**Wolfy16:** Wanna see Auron fight? Wait 'til chapter 10. It's guaranteed!

**JinYuy:** 1st review- Vegnagun good enough? >:3 2nd review- I'm something of a geek. I always try to learn as much as I can about whatever fandom I'm currently into. And I was a Star Wars geek for three years running, then on and off again the past four years.

**snowecat:** Now don't you worry none about Yuna fixin' to have her ass handed to her by Vader. I've got a trick up my sleeve. And Luke only had trouble with Vader on Bespin. He was owning from the word go at Endor.

**Morgaine of the Fairies:** The only problem is that the only X-wing on all of Spira is broken. There are plenty of LAAT/i's lying around though......

**Agla:** -Smacks you once for the double post, then smacks you again for the random postings about porn and whatnot- Idiot. Ah well, thanks for the comments just the same. I knew it'd be easy to slip Spira into the galaxy because hell, it's a big fuckin' galaxy. There's new worlds all over the place. Spira just happens to be one of them.


	10. Chapter Ten: Force Your Way

**Disclaimer:** I have never really been into the Jedi/Sith mythos. I've always liked Star Wars for the fighter battles n' shit. So I anticipate that my Yuna vs. Vader sucked.

* * *

The group exited the Farplane in a dead run, moving straight toward the southern exit out of Guadosalam. Rikku and Gippal led the group, followed closely by Baralai and Nooj, who could make good time when he had to, despite his mechanical leg. Tobli and Tromell were right behind them, followed themselves by Paine, Arren, and Kimahri. Braska, Jecht, and Auron were next, and a short distance behind them were Lenne, Shuyin, and Tidus. 

Suddenly, two full squads of stormtroopers came running up from the Thunder Plains exit of Guadosalam, directly between the group and freedom. The stormtroopers turned toward the group, bringing their blasters to bear. "Stop where you are! You're under arrest!"

The majority of the group skidded to a quick halt, some of them almost running straight into each other. Auron, Braska, and Jecht, however, kept right on running, their weapons already drawn.

"Cut the ones that matter!" Auron called. "Don't stop moving!"

With that, his sharp-edged Masamune flashed down from over his shoulder, cleaving open the nearest stormtrooper from shoulder to hip as the stormtroopers' return fire passed harmlessly through him.

A series of high-level Firaga spells erupted in the midst of the troopers as Braska gestured with his hands, still moving forward. Jecht dashed forward, swinging his sword brutally, and a still-occupied white helmet flipped up into the air.

As Shuyin raced forward with sword in hand, Lenne stopped for several moments, casting Protect on everyone in the group who was still among the living. After finishing, she looked around, knowing by her count that she had missed someone.

Then she found Tidus at the front of the lines, keeping pace with Auron, fighting unprotected against the soldiers of the Empire. His clothing spotted a few burn marks, but he did not look as though he had been hit. The blue blade of the Brotherhood flashed and swung through the air faster and more viciously than Tidus had ever fought before.

The others, Tromell and Tobli excluded, quickly joined the fray. Rikku's daggers flashed lightning-quick into the exposed joints of the stormtroopers, tearing at tendons, muscles, nerve endings, and blood vessels, disabling rather than immediately killing the stormtroopers. Paine swung her longsword with brutal power, crushing helmets, removing whole limbs, and leaving deep scores behind where her blade struck armor. Without his spear, and not dexterous enough to handle a blaster, Kimahri settled for picking stormtroopers up bodily and smashing them into the ground, a nearby wall, or even other stormtroopers if nothing else was at hand.

Nooj, Gippal, and Baralai all scooped up the discarded blasters of dead stormtroopers, returning fire against those still living with less-than-perfect accuracy. Despite this, a large number of white-armored corpses fell to the ground with blackened holes adorning their armor.

Standing nearby, Arren picked up a discarded E-11, then turned and held out his BlasTech DL-44 pistol toward Lenne. "Here!"

Smiling gently, she shook her head and drew out her summoning staff in her left hand. With a single gesture, she cast Haste upon herself, then took off into motion, her form blurring to everyone watching her. She shot past Rikku just as the thief's dagger swung out into her path, the blade passing harmlessly through her body.

She slammed into the last surviving stormtrooper with a bodycheck that took the man off his feet, shoving him back against the rough walls of Guadosalam. Before he could regain his bearings, she drove her summoning staff through his shoulder where the armor protecting his upper arm met with his torso plate, pinning him to the wall behind him.

Her right hand came up, a powerful open-palm blow that struck the stormtrooper on the chin and popped his helmet clean off of his head. Just as the trooper's vision began to clear from the blow, her left forearm came around and drove his head back into the uneven wall with bone-crushing force.

The last thing the stormtrooper saw before the back of his head split open was the flower poking out from the curtain of her dark hair, his last thought being a question as to how something so beautiful could kill so quickly and effortlessly. In the next second, all his thoughts and observations were little more than a grease stain on a rough-hewn rock wall.

Stepping away from the dead stormtrooper, she pulled her summoning staff out of his shoulder, letting the corpse clatter noisily to the ground. She flicked her staff to one side, and the still-wet blood slid from the sharp blade and splattered against the rocks.

As she turned, a blaster bolt shot through her back and sparked against Baralai's Protect spell. She completed her turn to find another group of stormtroopers coming up from the Thunder Plains. "Looks like trouble," she said.

---

The snapping sound of lightsabers clashing echoed throughout the depths of the Farplane.

Yuna brought her humming blue-green blade up over her head, deftly catching the blow from the Dark Lord of the Sith, then quickly dropped the blade down to her side to parry another pair of blows.

"Impressive," Vader said, a hint of respect apparent in his deep voice. "Most impressive." He underscored his statement by bringing his red-bladed lightsaber around in a punishing blow to Yuna's side. The young summoner easily blocked it with her blade inverted, her body angled away from the clashing blades.

Their blades contested again in a dizzying dance of light, casting multicolored shadows across her face and his helmet. She rolled under a powerful horizontal swing and came up on one knee a double dozen feet behind him. The Dark Lord turned slowly, his mechanical breathing not having accelerated one bit.

"The Force is strong with you, young summoner. Give yourself to the Dark side, and become more powerful than you could ever imagine."

"No," Yuna answered, sucking in deep breaths. "I will not turn to evil. I will never join the Dark side."

The only answer to her statement for several long moments was the mechanical pumping of air in and out of Vader's body. "My patience with you is growing thin, young one. If you will not turn, then you will be destroyed!" Without warning, Vader suddenly reared back and hurled his lightsaber at her, the red-bladed weapon whirring as it arced end-over-end toward her.

Yuna panicked for a split-second, then focused her power of the Force and readied her lightsaber. Despite himself, Vader found himself impressed. Even he would have preferred to dodge such an attack entirely rather than try to block it. Now was the time he would see if she was truly as strong in the Force as he had forseen.

Moving so fast that even he barely caught her action, she brought her lightsaber up, holding the grip over her head and angling the blade toward his incoming weapon. Her move succeeded; his blade impacted against hers with another bright flash of light. However, her move was not as smooth as it should have been.

The tip of Vader's flailing lightsaber came around, striking Yuna in her right arm and instantly slicing away a triangular portion of her flesh. Yuna cried out in pain, dropping her lightsaber to the ground and clutching the throbbing wound in her arm as Vader's lightsaber landed benignly nearby.

"The Force is indeed strong with you, High Summoner," Vader said. "Join me, and we will put an end to the corrupt Empire. We shall create a new empire with you at its head, and Spira itself will become the center of the galaxy."

"No!" Yuna cried vehemently, gritting her teeth past the pain in her arm as she pushed herself toward the edge of the platform with her feet. "Spira doesn't _want_ to be the center of the galaxy! We were perfectly fine living here in peace until _you_ showed up!"

Vader seemed to ponder that for a moment, before replying, "If peace is what you desire, then peace can be given to you. Come with me, and the Empire will leave Spira alone forever. We will leave this planet and never return." He reached out to her with one gloved hand. "All you must do is join me."

"You'll…leave Spira alone forever?" she repeated.

"My word is as good as law in the Empire. If I say that Spira is to be left alone, then Spira will be left alone."

_Yuna, no!_ Lenne's voice rang through Yuna's head, as their connection allowed Lenne to hear what Yuna was hearing. The songstress was not fooled for a minute by Vader's words. _Don't go with him! You will become a servant of evil!_

Despite herself, Yuna found her trembling right hand start to lift up, reaching toward the hand outstretched by the Dark Lord. She wasn't sure if she wanted to stop herself or not. She had been willing to die to keep Spira safe from Sin for a mere ten years. Could serving the Empire really be that much worse?

_Yuna, think of Tidus!_

Those four words snapped something within the former summoner's mind, her thinking suddenly clearing up as though she were returning to the surface of Besaid's seas after another exercise in holding her breath underwater. If she went with Vader, she would never see Tidus again. And she knew, despite anyone's argument to the contrary, that Tidus would not be able to love her if she sold herself to the devil in this way. That love was something she could not live without.

Spira would just have to fight.

"NO!" she screamed at Vader, leaping to her feet and reaching her left hand toward her lightsaber, reaching out to it through the Force in order to draw it back into her hand and strike Vader down while he was still unarmed.

But the Dark Lord was faster than her. Just as her hand wrapped around the grip of the lightsaber, she felt a powerful force slam into her body, lifting her up and throwing her over the edge of the platform on which she stood.

Twisting in midair, she tried to get a grip on the edge of the platform, failed, and plummeted into the Farplane. Below her, off to her right, she could see the glen. Reaching deep into the Force, she pulled herself in the direction of the glen. Seconds later, she landed on it in a heap, the force of the landing expelling the breath from her body.

Pushing herself to a kneeling position, she looked up and saw the black form of Vader drifting down toward the glen. Standing up fully, she pressed her thumb against the activation switch and brought the newly-restored blade up just in time to intercept a swing from Vader that would have neatly bisected her head. She stepped back quickly as Vader pulled his saber away, holding her own blade ready for a parry.

"It is useless to resist," Vader said, slowly stalking around her in a circular pattern. "You are only prolonging your own demise."

"I don't care," she answered, circling in the opposite direction. "I'm not going to back down."

Instead of responding, Vader moved in, the blade of his lightsaber humming as it sliced through the air, only to meet Yuna's blue-green blade. Using his greater strength, Vader began pulling his lightsaber up and across as though he was tracing the edge of a clock. Just as though it seemed like he was going to force her blade aside and be able to strike at her, he sensed a sudden surge of power through her and she successfully held his crimson blade at bay, the weapon casting angry red shadows across her face.

"Ah, the Force is not the only thing strong with you, young summoner," Vader said. "Love is also something that is strong in you."

"Yes," Yuna answered, her voice even despite the physical exertion it was taking to hold the Dark Lord's lightsaber at bay. "I fight to protect those that I love and care about. As long as I stand between you and them, they will not have to suffer."

Vader did not answer. Instead, he reached out into the Force, searching out the individual life forces that were bound to the one that he was in conflict with. Finally, a minute or so later, he finally spoke. "But are you aware, young summoner, that the choice you have made will lead directly to suffering for them? You must know by now that you cannot defeat me. Your death will only make them suffer."

Yuna blinked her eyes slowly, drawing in a painful breath. "I know. But it is all that I can do. The suffering you would cause is far greater than any that my own death would."

Once more, Vader reached out to read that one particular life force that was inextricably bound with Yuna's own. When he spoke, the softness of his voice surprised Yuna. "There is…one person who would disagree."

She nodded haltingly, a single tear freed from the corner of her right eye and sliding down her cheek. "Yes, I know. It is for him, that I fight you."

"I knew that sort of love once," Vader said, his mechanical breathing slowly slightly.

"Then you know why I do this."

"Yes, I do." Shockingly, he stepped back from Yuna and lowered his lightsaber to the side, the crimson blade still humming idly. "I also know the pain of losing such a love. I would not desire to inflict it upon another being. However, my Master has made it clear that he wants you eliminated."

"I understand," Yuna said quietly, lowering the lightsaber to her side. "Please, make it quick."

---

Dashing directly at the last stormtrooper in their way with fire in his eyes, Shuyin drove his blade through the chest of the white-armored soldier and then reared back, kicking the man off of his sword. He turned around toward the others, who were following behind him.

Nodding, he turned and led the run down the forested path toward the Moonflow, running as fast as he could to lead his comrades to safety before the Empire's forces broke through the Guado and fiend defenders. He turned the corner on the north bank of the Moonflow and started toward the shoopuf waiting area, only to skid to a halt, the others similarly freezing in their tracks.

Between them and the dock stood two Imperial AT-ST scout walkers and three dozen stormtroopers, all with weapons trained on the small group. "Drop your weapons!" one of the stormtroopers called.

Shuyin looked to those around him. Finally, Braska nodded. One by one, they dropped their swords, blasters, and summoning staffs and raised their hands over their heads.

Suddenly, Lenne looked into the sky and pointed. "Look!"

From beyond the curve of the Moonflow came three familiar sights. To those who had been with Yuna on her pilgrimage, the huge shape of the Al Bhed _Airship_ was easily recognizable. Rikku and Gippal quickly recognized the shapes of two of the gunship transports they had salvaged from the sunken ship flying escort of the airship.

Closing at rapid speeds, the two escort gunships opened fire, green laser beams lancing out instantly from the ball turrets on the wings and to either side of the cockpit, cutting down the Imperial stormtroopers while doing little real damage to the walkers. To correct for this, fire blossomed from the missile launchers mounted atop both vehicles as a pair of missiles shot toward either walker.

The first walker detonated brilliantly, spraying flaming shrapnel in all directions. The second didn't explode right away, but the concussive force of the explosions knocked the walker forward. It attempted to shuffle its feet to correct for it, but the vehicle was already far too overbalanced and collapsed forward, the impact with the ground crushing its boxy cockpit.

As _Airship_ hovered in midair and one of the gunships orbited around it, the second gunship angled in and came to a hover a mere foot off the ground on the bank of the Moonflow, its right side turned toward the group. As it came to a hover, half a dozen Al Bhed soldiers wearing cannibalized portions of the armor discovered with the ships jumped out, firing stolen E-11 blaster carbines at the surviving stormtroopers.

Buddy appeared standing in the transport area of the gunship, wearing a white armored chest plate. He waved to the group with one hand, the other held tightly to a rope strung near the ceiling. "Come on, get in!"

The group was only too happy to oblige, leaping into the gunship with assistance from Buddy and the other Al Bhed soldiers inside. Arren immediately moved up to the cockpit, asking the Al Bhed at the controls to turn the vehicle over to him. After explaining that he was familiar with the technology of the gunship, the Al Bhed nodded and turned the controls over to the Rebel pilot.

As the others leaped onto the gunship and held onto the ropes mounted above their heads, Tidus stopped, looking back toward Guadosalam. "What about Yuna?"

Lenne laid her hand on Tidus' shoulder, pulling him toward the gunship. "Tidus, we have to go. Come on."

A blackened burn mark appeared on the hull of the gunship as a nearby Al Bhed providing cover fire flew backwards, smashing into the deck of the gunship before falling flat, a smoldering crater through both sides of his white chest plate.

Tidus looked back at her as an Al Bhed moved between him and the advancing stormtroopers, firing his DC-15 heavy rifle, a task he wouldn't have been able to manage without the strength enhancements built into the armor he wore.

"Where's Yuna!?" he demanded.

Lenne's heart broke at the pain she could hear in his words. "Please, just trust me that everything's going to be okay. We have to go."

Sighing, Tidus jumped up into the waiting gunship and grabbed the overhead rope. The Al Bhed who had been standing before him backed up until his legs hit the edge of the deck, then scooted up and back to sit on the deck, still firing his weapon into the oncoming stormtroopers.

At a signal from someone in the transport bay, Arren gracefully rose the vehicle into the air on its repulsorlifts, rotating it midway and engaging the engines, cruising out to meet with the other gunship and the _Airship_."

"_Alright, kids, we're headin' back to Bikanel,"_ the gruff voice of Cid came over the gunship's short-range comlink system. _"We're gathering our weapons and armor there that we salvaged from that sunken ship before the Empire blew it up, and we think we've found another set of ruins just like it near Bikanel."_

Arren reached forward and activated the comm system. "Keep your eyes glued to your sensor screens. The Empire has to know that we now have a presence in the skies, so they'll be sending eyeballs to come play tag with us."

"'_Eyeballs?'"_ Cid repeated. _"What the hell are those?"_

Laughing, Arren shook his head as he kept his gunship steady in its position to the right and behind the Al Bhed _Airship_. "Sorry, that's a Rebel pilot term. Eyeballs are what we call the Empire's TIE fighters. Fast, nimble, hard to hit. But they come apart under one shot, because they've got no shields."

"_Right."_ Cid sounded skeptical. _"Well, you heard the man. Everyone keep your eyes peeled. I want to know the second we have unfriendly company."_

The next several minutes passed in silence. Within a short time, land had vanished beneath the ships and they were flying over the ocean. Standing at the edge of the gunship's deck, Tidus stared down into the blue waters below, wishing that Yuna was beside him. He couldn't stand the thought that she could be hurt somewhere, or even dying, and he was miles away, the distance growing with every second.

Suddenly, a riot of noise sparked the comm waves. _"Eyeballs, coming in!"_ That was the thickly-accented voice of Brother, no doubt piloting the _Airship_, as he attempted to use the slang that Arren had imparted to them. _"Six fighters from the left!"_

"_Republic LAAT/i transports and unidentified repulsor vessel, you are transporting fugitives of the Empire. Surrender and prepare to be boarded, and no harm will come to you."_

"_Gunners,"_ Cid called to the Al Bhed manning the guns on the gunships, _"give 'em our answer!"_

At once, the port-side laser gunners turned their turrets out toward the approaching enemy fighters and fired. One beam struck dead-center of a TIE fighter's spherical cockpit, detonating the fighter brilliantly. The other five instantly scattered, none of the beams coming remotely close to hitting them.

Coming off of their evasive maneuver, the TIEs quickly reoriented and fired, green beams of energy streaking through the skies and impacting against the armored hull of _Airship_. Two of the surviving five TIEs peeled off and came after the gunships, spiraling and juking to throw off the gunners' aim.

Tidus watched as the transport doors of the gunship locked into place, to keep them from falling out of the ship. "Hold on, everyone!" Arren called from the cockpit, just seconds before he threw the gunship into a dizzying spiraling dive, making the shot of the TIE fighter that had been setting up in their rear arc miss wide.

Hauling up on the controls, Arren turned the gunship toward the TIE fighter that had been dogging the other gunship. He knew that there was no way the bulky LAAT/i's could outmaneuver the much smaller and more agile TIE fighters. Their only hope in defeating them would lie in attacking the ones that were concentrating on each other.

Finding the controls of the forward light turbolasers, Arren sent five paired green bolts screaming through the air at the TIE fighter dancing around in the other gunship's rear arc. The TIE's pilot, having seen the LAAT/i fire on him, juked straight up, a maneuver no other ship in existence could duplicate. The move carried him well away from Arren's fire, but took him straight into an errant burst of laser fire from the other LAAT/i's rear gunner.

"Good shooting!" Arren called over the comlink.

"_Thanks for spooking him into us,"_ the pilot of the other gunship said in accented Basic. _"Come around to zero-two-zero. We'll take care of your riffraff."_

"Copy that," Arren replied, swinging his gunship around to the assigned heading and dipping the nose slightly to pick up airspeed. Like a baby duckling trailing its mother, the TIE fighter on Arren's tail obediently followed, implementing enough evasive maneuvers to give his tail gunner fits.

Unfortunately, the TIE pilot was so focused on turning Arren's vessel into so much debris that he never saw the second LAAT/i bearing down on him. Simultaneously, all four turret gunners as well as the pilot opened fire, their deadly energy beams intersecting on the luckless TIE fighter at the exact same moment, resulting in instant detonation.

"Good work," Arren said, then looked over toward _Airship_, which was still suffering the strafing runs of the other TIE fighters. There were burn marks all over its deck and sides, but the TIEs' lasers hadn't seemed to have penetrated hull yet.

_Airship_ was not taking that assault laying down. Heavy anti-aircraft machine gun turrets had slid out from their concealed positions within the ship, and were supplying a heavy barrage of fire into the two remaining TIE fighters. One had obviously fallen victim to _Airship_'s gunners.

Switching his weapons control over to guided rockets, Arren swung the targeting crosshairs over a TIE fighter that was looping around before the _Airship_, preparing to make another strafing run. With a squeeze, the Rebel pilot loosed a pair of rockets to arc out on blue flame toward the TIE.

Spotting the incoming rockets, the TIE pilot inverted his craft in preparation to dive away from the death lances. Unfortunately for him, his maneuver came too slowly. Just as he started to dive, the first missile clipped his starboard solar array, ripping the hexagonal wing off and sending both wing and fighter plummeting to the ocean below.

The last TIE pilot quickly assessed the situation and, determining survival to be highly unlikely, stood his fighter on its tail and blasted skyward, moving at a pace no vehicle on Spira could match. It was heading directly for the eddy in Spira's gravity well that would allow it to escape up to the orbiting _Executor_.

---

Darth Vader strode down the boarding ramp of his shuttle, looking toward the captain of the Super Star Destroyer as he did so. "Captain, I will be leaving the _Executor_ immediately to oversee the Emperor's new Death Star project. I am going to make one thing clear to you, and I expect to be obeyed in this regard. Do not launch any more orbital bombardments on the planet. If rebel activity intensifies and it does not look as though we are going to be able to hold the planet, then you are to execute Base Delta Zero."

The captain paled visibly, but did not argue. "Understood, my lord. I shall follow your orders to the letter."

"See to it that you do, Captain. Or else." With that, Vader turned and strode back up the boarding ramp, which closed behind him.

Taking his seat in the passenger compartment, Vader stared out at the rotating planet below them as the pilot of his shuttle sent the _Lambda_-class shuttle soaring through space. He was most certain that the summoner was dead; he had watched her fall until he could no longer see the distant black speck that was her body. Even still, he could not help but think that he had unfinished business on Spira.

Then the stars suddenly elongated as the shuttle jumped to hyperspace, and Spira vanished into the distance behind him. Inwardly, he was already preparing the intimidating speech he would deliver to the commander of the new Death Star upon his arrival…

---

Yuna coughed and sputtered as consciousness suddenly returned to her, gagging up a mouthful of water. She flailed her limbs in panic as she realized that she wasn't in contact with the ground, splashing more water onto her and around her.

Reaching deep into the Force to calm herself, Yuna stopped flailing and looked around. She was floating in a small pool of water fed by an underground channel, surrounded by rocks and sand. She knew right away where she was. The oasis on Bikanel Island.

_How did I get here?_

She remembered fighting Vader, remembered him throwing her off the side of the Farplane glen. She had fallen for what seemed like hours, until she had felt a familiar presence beneath her, folding her up in its protective embrace and halting her descent.

Blinking her eyes, Yuna looked up and behind her to see the winged aeon Valefor hovering above the oasis' cool waters, watching over her. She smiled at the creature, knowing that it had to have been Lenne that had summoned the aeon to save her life.

"Thank you," she said, bowing out of habit and respect, before looking around her.

Her lightsaber was floating in the water a few feet away from her. She swam over to it and plucked the cylindrical weapon from the jostling water, holding the weapon in her hand as she made her way to the shore. Once there, she stood on the desert sands, water dripping from her body as she tried to remember which way to the Al Bhed excavation camp.

Turning around, she looked up at Valefor, who was hovering a few feet above her to provide her shade from the burning sun. "I guess I'll just start walking, and you can see what's up ahead of us, huh?"

Before the aeon could make any indication of a reply, Yuna's attention was drawn behind her by the distant sounds of explosions. Without thinking, she dashed away from the oasis at full speed, easily maintaining her balance in the shifting sand as she ran toward the highest sand dune she could see. Dropping to her hands and knees, she crawled up the steep slope of the dune until she reached its top. Once there, after catching sight of what laid beyond, she imagined that she would have fallen to her knees were she not already down on them.

For as far as she could see, war had overtaken Bikanel. Hundreds of the Empire's white-clad stormtroopers ran across the dusty desert, their blasters spitting hot red light. Closer to her, Yuna could see an equal number of fighters, presumably Al Bhed, wearing components of much older-looking armor, firing large blaster rifles that shot blue bolts back toward the stormtroopers.

In the distance, she saw four huge, hulking quadrupedal shapes making their way toward the Al Bhed lines. She knew they were more than a mile distant, but they still loomed high up on the horizon, and she knew that they had to be absolutely gargantuan. Imperial AT-ST walkers were already mixing it up in the battlefield, firing their deadly double-blasters down into the oncoming Al Bhed lines, who answered with guided missiles and stationary blaster turrets. Even as she watched, a scout walker exploded under the combined assault of four different missiles and three turrets.

The skies above Bikanel were also torn asunder with war. In a dazzling aerial display of piloting skill and sheer ability, the Empire's TIE fighters were mixing it up with dozens of LAAT/i transports and other vehicles that the Al Bhed had salvaged, small triangular-shaped one-man fighters that were every bit as nimble as the TIE fighters.

Looking down at the lightsaber in her hand, she slowly raised her bi-colored gaze to the battle happening before her. She hadn't beaten Vader, would probably never beat Vader. But with the Force at her side, the Imperial military was mere cannon fodder to her.

Pushing to her feet, she took off running toward the battle, using the Force to increase her speed.

---

_Airship_ and the two LAAT/i transports crested a hill and saw the battlefield unfolding below them. Thousands of blasters bolts zipped back and forth across the desert, augmented by the heavier bolts of Imperial scout walkers or the mounted turrets that the Al Bhed were using. Already there were heavy anti-aircraft bolts arcing toward the approaching ships from the Imperial lines.

As they approached, a pair of heavy turbolaser bolts slammed into the second LAAT/i, detonating the nose section and killing the Al Bhed riding in it. Trailing smoke and flames, the failing engine of the gunship rose in pitch as the vehicle's nose angled up and then rolled down, the leftmost missile launcher peeling off the falling gunship like the rind of a fruit.

"Arren!" Lenne called. "Land in that assembly area!"

The Rebel pilot nodded back at her, keeping his eyes on the anti-aircraft barrages surrounding them. "Right away!"

Scant moments later, the LAAT/i came to rest on its landing gear directly in the middle of the Al Bhed excavation camp, the cargo doors sliding open to allow the occupants to jump out.

An armored Al Bhed approached Gippal as soon as the blond man had set foot on the sand. "Fa ryja veja cbaleym commando ihedc cdyhtehk po. Crymm E namayca dras du oui un caht dras yrayt fedr dra General?"

"Dra General?" Gippal repeated, confused. "Fryd General?"

"Dra Jedi," answered the Al Bhed, motioning off to one side. "Ylluntehk du dra naluntc fa vuiht eh dra ruins, dra Jedi Knights fana ymm generals eh dra Grand Army uv dra Republic."

Gippal looked in the direction the Al Bhed pointed to see Yuna standing with about twenty Al Bhed armed and armored differently from the rest of those on the battlefield. She was talking to them. It looked to Gippal like she was giving them a pre-mission pep talk.

"Caht dfu uv dra cxiytc uid du tacdnuo draen walkers," Gippal finally said. "Gaab dra nacd haynpo du tavaht dra camp."

"Oac, cen!"

Finished talking to the special forces surrounding her, Yuna looked toward where the gunship had landed and smiled to see all of her friends disembarking. She was grateful that her duel against Vader had allowed them all to escape. Then she saw Tidus step off the deck and lean against the side of the vehicle, a sad and distant look in his eyes.

Grinning mischievously, she circled around to the back of the LAAT/i and then stepped up onto the deck, sneaking slowly across to the side against Tidus was leaning. Once she had reached him, she leaned out carefully until her head was only a few inches from his.

"Wanna scream?" she asked suddenly.

Tidus must've jumped three feet into the air. Those among the group that had watched Yuna sneak up on him laughed at his reaction. The blushing blitzer made threatening motions at them, then it struck him exactly who had spoken in his ear.

"Yuna!" he cried, turning to her with an expression that was at once shocked and extremely happy. "You're okay!"

"I told you she would be," Lenne said smugly.

Tidus ignored her, jumping back into the transport area of the LAAT/i and pulling Yuna into a bone-squeezing hug. She returned his hug with just as much enthusiasm, laughing despite herself. "Did you miss me?" she asked.

"What happened?" he asked at almost the same time, pulling back from her and placing his hands on his shoulders. "Nevermind, I don't care. You're okay, so everything's fine."

She smiled and nodded at him. "Vader is gone."

"You killed him?"

"No. But I can't sense his presence anywhere near Spira. He's left us. We have a chance now."

Lenne walked up to the edge of the LAAT/i's deck and leaned forward, resting her hands on the metal surface. "He thinks Yuna's dead. He threw her off the side of the platform in the Farplane, and I summoned Valefor to catch her and bring her here. So Vader left on whatever errand the Emperor had for him, and he's not going to be back before we take back our world."

Yuna looked over Tidus' shoulder at the songstress and smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Lenne. For saving me."

The older woman smiled in return. "You're welcome."

"Well, what are we all just standing around for?" Gippal asked. "We've got a battle to win!"

Yuna grinned infectiously. "Right! And I have a plan…"

* * *

**Translations:**

"We have five special commando units standing by. Shall I release them to you or send them ahead with the General?"

"General? What General?"

"The Jedi. According to the records we found in the ruins, the Jedi were all generals in the Grand Army of the Republic."

"Send two of the squads out to destroy their walkers. Keep the rest nearby to defend the camp."

"Yes, sir."

**A/N:** Yay, more cliffhangeriness. I actually figured that cutting it off right here would be the intelligent choice, as it was already 11 pages in Word. Well, look forward to the Battle of Bikanel (which is modeled heavily off the Battle of Geonosis, as you can see) to be the majority of next chapter.

Oh, and to those of you who were like "WHAT THE HELL!?" when I had Vader just up and leave, tough shit. I suddenly decided that I wanted to make this able to largely slip into the canon Star Wars storyline, save for the fact that _Executor_ won't be at the Battle of Endor now.

And now, on to shout-outs.

**Master and Chief:** Well, as you can see, I didn't think too highly of my Vader vs. Yuna. Oh well. I already changed it once. It was originally much shorter. Yeah, I know. You're thinking "How can it get shorter than THAT?" but it was. In any case, I'm probably going to catch a lot of flak for Vader going soft on her at the end, but remember this is pre-RotJ, so that little spark of light still alive in Vader is beginning to manifest. So now whenever you watch RotJ and Luke says "I know there is still good in you, I can feel it!" you can be like "Yeah, Luke's talking about when he didn't kill Yuna!"

**madmaz:** Hah, let me tell you that when chapters largely consist of battle after battle after battle, I tend to end them on cliffhangers, just to keep my readers coming back.

**Morgaine of the Fairies:** Oi. Ya, Shadows of the Empire should be read when you can fully concentrate on it, else you'll miss out on some of the random subtle nuances I leave in there occasionally. And yes, Jecht is largely standing by for comedic relief in my fic, though he does have his fair share of stormie ass-whooping. And don't think I've forgotten about Lenne's little prank plan. ;)

**Wolfy16:** That's okay if you look for updates everyday. I check for updates on my favorite fics several times a day. In my opinion, when someone is always looking for an update, that means that the work in question is really good. So thanks for the compliment. And yes, dude. Bevelle is going to be the be-all, end-all battle of the millennium. Sin and Vegnagun will have NOTHING on this.

**SevenTowers:** Of course Yuna's not going to lose any limbs. XD I lurve her too much. She lost some skin, but that's nothing bacta can't heal! Oh? What's that? No bacta on Spira? x-x Shit. Oh well.

**Rik:** Thank you. Since battle isn't your thing, you may not enjoy the next _x_ number of chapters.

**Furitaurus:** :3 It's great to know that my work is loved. In any case, the reason why I didn't introduce Paine before is because I really couldn't figure out a place to put her. If you'll notice, you haven't caught sight of the Leblanc Syndicate anywhere, have ya? It's not intentional, I swear. I just have no idea what to do with certain characters, so I leave them out entirely.

Well kids, that's about it for now. I leave you all foaming at the mouth and anxiously awaiting the first _major_ battle of the war for Spira.


	11. Chapter Eleven: Grand Army of Spira

The once-peaceful island of Bikanel had been shattered by war. Thousands of blaster bolts screamed through the air between the steadily-advancing forces of the Empire and the armored Al Bhed denizens of the island. The skies overhead were also torn with war, green laser bolts flashing between the TIE fighters of the Empire, and the LAAT/i's and dagger-shaped starfighters salvaged by the Al Bhed.

As the incoming blaster bolts reached a level of intensity that she would have to deflect them or catch them on her protective shield, Yuna took one last look back at the squad of Al Bhed she was leading, knowing very well that many of them wouldn't return alive. Then she ignited her lightsaber and, spinning the blade with every step to deflect the blaster bolts, charged into the battle.

Four LAAT/i gunships roared ahead at low altitude, exposing themselves to small-arms and antiaircraft fire, but thereby avoiding the attention of the embattled TIE fighters. All at once they lashed out with their weaponry, laser beams and blasters burning right through enemy troops, missiles detonating and tipping scout walkers.

As blue blaster bolts raced past her on all sides, Yuna dashed forward into the ranks of the Imperial stormtroopers, her lightsaber humming and sparking as she swung it around in a wide horizontal arc, decapitating the nearest stormtrooper to her. As the headless suit of armor fell to the desert sands, she moved forward and brought her lightsaber down in a hard cleave, splitting open the skull of another.

Then her Al Bhed squad was in the fray beside her, unleashing their heavy blaster bolts into the stormtroopers at point-blank range. Many of the stormtroopers were too preoccupied with the destructive capabilities of the Jedi in their midst, and failed to realize the threat of the Al Bhed until their bolts had burned holes clean through their bodies.

Yuna dispatched the last stormtrooper in their immediate vicinity with a straight thrust clean through the man's chest, then withdrew her blade and looked back to her men, to see all of them still standing. One had a blaster burn on the side of his torso armor, but otherwise they were all unharmed. Yuna quickly gestured with her free hand and recast the Protect spell that had obviously worn off on the man.

With a nod, Yuna turned and moved ahead. Behind her, she could hear the leader of her squad call out to the men, "Suja uid! Lujan Lady Yuna yht gemm yhodrehk dryd cruudc nat!"

Responding with a roar of enthusiasm, the Al Bhed fighters rushed forward, surrounding Yuna on all sides and acting as living shields for her. They fired as they ran, using their weapons' scopes and their own natural ability with firearms to tag stormtroopers who were dozens of meters away.

As they moved forward, a blindingly-bright beam of light shot across the battlefield, originating from near the Al Bhed excavation camp. The beam shot over the heads of the Al Bhed troops but drilled directly through the stormtroopers' lines, incinerating soldiers in the blink of an eye and melting huge chunks out of any vehicles it hit.

While the Al Bhed on the battlefield let out a resounding cheer, Yuna turned around to see what she had known she would see: Bahamut standing back to its feet after having braced itself on all fours for its powerful Mega Flare overdrive. She knew that Lenne and her aeons would be a decisive edge in this battle.

Suddenly, from all the way across the battlefield, one of the gargantuan Imperial walkers opened fire, two huge bolts of energy streaking through the skies directly toward Bahamut. The mighty dragon made no attempt to evade the bolts, merely stood defiantly in their path, arms crossed as always.

After what seemed like an eternity, the bolts finally reached Bahamut, exploding against the dragon's protective shield in such a bright light burst that the dragon was completely hidden from few for several moments. When it cleared, the mighty king of dragons was on a knee, one clawed hand pressed against the sand for support. The blaster bolts obviously had enough energy to burn down the dragon's shield with plenty of energy left over to inflict significant damage.

"_Fire on those Imperial walkers, quickly!"_ she heard Lenne call out over the comlink.

"_It's no use,"_ Arren replied, hopelessly. _"We've got nothing that can penetrate their thick armor. On Hoth, we could only bring down the walkers by using modified airspeeders with a harpoon and tow cable."_

"_You need heavy firepower, son?"_ Cid asked. _"You just clear the hell away from that walker and we'll give you all the firepower you need!"_

Yuna looked up into the sky as _Airship_ floated down from the sky, moving steadily toward the nearest AT-AT. As she watched, the fabric-like material hanging down from the sides of the airship suddenly rippled and parted, allowing two orange cylinders to swing out and lock into position. Two iron bars extended from the cylinders, forming a pair of lance-like projections to either side of the airship, their tips glowing brightly with energy.

Almost instantly, two bright bolts of energy shot out of the projections, crossing the distance instantaneously and slamming directly into the walker's boxy cockpit. The head section of the walker exploded brilliantly, scattering pieces of durasteel in all directions. Overbalanced from the sudden shock and loss of all control, the walker tipped to the side on the uneven sands, teetering on the edge of balance as both sides watched breathlessly.

Then, in seeming slow motion, the walker listed over to its left and collapsed onto the desert sands, kicking up a huge cloud of sand that spread quickly across the battlefield.

"_Ykyeh!"_ Cid's voice cried over the comlink channels.

The _Airship_ came around, silver energy arcing between the projections as it cruised in toward the second walker, which desperately attempted to defend itself by firing the blaster cannons on the side of its head, which were nowhere near powerful enough to penetrate the _Airship_'s hull. With a bright flash of light, _Airship_ fired again, sending the second walker crashing to the surface of the desert, adding to the cloud of sand that now obscured the battlefield, casting most of the fight into darkness illuminated only by the flashes of light from the blaster fire.

---

Leading his squad of Al Bhed through the blinding swirls of dust, Tidus allowed his natural instincts and the light of the blasters to guide his actions. Quickly dashing forward, he dropped low and swung the Brotherhood around to the left, the blade deeply scoring the leg armor of a stormtrooper and knocking that man off his feet. The Al Bhed leader of Tidus' squad followed closely behind the blitzer, and burned three holes in the stormtrooper's torso armor before he hit the ground. Twitching, the stormtrooper hit the sand and didn't get up again.

Rolling up onto his feet, Tidus turned and stepped into the reach of another stormtrooper attempting to brain Tidus with his blaster carbine. Shoving the man's arm out of line, Tidus brought his right arm up and slammed his fist, still holding the sword, into the stormtrooper's jaw. The armored man dropped like an anesthetized behemoth.

Mixed blaster fire of both friends and enemies fell all around Tidus, cutting down soldiers on both sides. Tidus' Al Bhed partner took a bolt in his left arm and quickly dropped to a knee, pulling out a potion and pouring it into the wound. The healing fluid made its way into the smoking black hole in his arm, and slowly began to mend the damaged flesh.

Discarding the empty bottle, the Al Bhed accepted Tidus' outstretched hand and got to his feet with the blitzer's help. Testing out the damage to his arm, he decided that he wouldn't be able to use the DC-15 for a while, and pulled out the blaster pistol that had been among the weapons salvaged by the Al Bhed.

---

At the Al Bhed excavation camp, an Al Bhed whose armor bore the red stripes that indicated a sharpshooter turned toward Shuyin and Lenne, who were watching various monitors.

"Lady Lenne," the Al Bhed said. "All forward positions are advancing."

"Very good," Lenne replied, looking toward another screen that showed the two remaining Imperial walkers beginning to turn away from the battle in an attempt to retreat. It was apparent they wanted nothing to do with _Airship_. One of the walkers' entire body section was in flame, victim of the constant strafing runs by the Al Bhed aircraft who were freed up as the TIE fighters all turned their wrath on _Airship_.

She looked toward the Al Bhed. "Concentrate all your fire on that unharmed walker."

"Yes, ma'am." The Al Bhed turned to give out orders to the others sitting at the command console. "Move all quadrants to sector four-seven-four. Transmit the order to Delta Squad."

"Yes, sir," a fully-armored Al Bhed, even down to the helmet, answered, as he and several like him moved their hands over the consoles as though they'd been doing it for years.

Lenne watched them with a certain sense of awe. Even though she'd had a thousand years of experiences, advanced machinery was still something that was largely beyond her. She could work a blaster with ease, field-strip and reassemble one if she was supervised, and even possibly fly one of the LAAT/i's that were in their possession if given ample instruction and plenty of practice, but the way that these three controllers were coordinating the battle amazed her.

Holding her summoning staff in hand, Lenne shifted her gaze from the rows of monitors up to the battle before her. The thick cloud of sand was just starting to clear, but not nearly enough to make out the bright spots of color that were her friends in the midst of the sea of white armies and orange sand.

So far, only a few units of stormtroopers had slipped past the lines and advanced on the command center that she occupied. But those stormtroopers had stopped in their tracks when they saw Lenne and Shuyin standing at the front of the command center. Word had spread through the Empire's ranks about them, she knew. She could hardly blame them. She'd be intimidated by someone so vicious and lethal that seemed to be invincible just as much as they were.

After healing Bahamut from the counterattack by the walkers, the dragon king had stood by the command center, his mere presence keeping the Imperial stormtroopers far away. She knew she could have sent her aeons into the battle at the front of the lines, and they would have devastated the Imperial forces. But she knew as well as they did that those fighting for Spira's survival needed combat experience. And sitting back while aeons did all the fighting for you was not combat experience.

She watched, and in the distance, knew that the unharmed walker was coming under assault.

---

"Darman, Niner, kad ib drana yht pmuf dryd walker!"

"Ymnayto pmufh, Sarge," answered the Al Bhed commando named Darman, as he and Niner checked the connection of their ascension cables that were currently attached to the underside of the AT-AT they had been ordered to assault. "Lypmac calina. Ib fa ku, Niner."

Nodding, the other Al Bhed pressed a button on the small control panel attached to the ascension cable, and the two commandos rose into the air, firing their special forces DC-17m rifles down into the stormtroopers surrounding the walker. On the ground, Fi and Sarge, the other two members of the squad, were laying steady suppression fire with their own DC-17s and a portable E-web heavy blaster cannon.

Within seconds, Darman and Niner had risen up to the height of the walker's underside. As Niner continued providing suppressive fire to cover Darman's backside, the demolitions specialist withdrew a shaped charge and planted it on the waste vent of the walker. Five seconds later, the charge detonated, blowing off the vent and providing the two commandos easy access to the inside of the AT-AT.

"Fryd yna fa drnufehk eh?" Niner asked. "Concussion grenades?"

"Hu, hud bufanvim ahuikr," Darman answered. "Vimm-cewat thermal detonators."

"Vimm-cewat? Fryd dra ramm yna oui dnoehk du tu?"

"Pmuf drec drehk du kingdom come." Darman handed two palm-filling thermal detonators to the other man, then produced two of his own and armed one, throwing it inside the walker. "Tuh'd zicd ryhk drana, drnuf uha eh!"

"Fryd ypuid dra udran uha?" Niner asked as he chucked one of his detonators into the walker's gullet.

"Eh lyca fa ryja du lusa pylg. Hu desa du neta dra lypmac pylg tufh. Zisb!"

With that, Darman sliced the cable holding him up to the walker and fell the long ten or more meters to the sandy ground. He tucked into a roll on impact, successfully buffering the momentum of the fall. As he came up on a knee to see how Niner fared from the landing, a concussive shock wave slammed him back face-first to the ground.

---

Yuna watched from a distance as the second walker suddenly detonated, its armored shell splitting like the rind of a fruit as massive chunks of durasteel were hurled in all directions. She struggled to maintain her footing as the shock wave ripped through the desert. Failing to do so, she fell onto the sands, her lightsaber automatically deactivating as it fell several feet away from her.

"Freeze!" the mechanically-filtered voice of the Empire's forces shouted from close to her. She looked up to see three stormtroopers training their blasters on her head. At that range, all the Protect spells in the world wouldn't save her. "Drop the weapons."

A glance out of the corner of her eye showed the Al Bhed troops hesitating. In response, one of the stormtroopers stepped forward, pressing the barrel of the weapon against her head.

"Drop the weapons!" he repeated, more forcefully.

She caught the eye of the Al Bhed leader and nodded. He repeated the nod to his men and they slowly laid their DC-15s in the sand, then lifted their hands into the air.

Before the stormtroopers could make any move, a red-and-black spiked blitzball suddenly shot out of seemingly nowhere and smashed into the head of one of the stormtroopers, the sharp blades of the ball piercing the helmet with ease and impaling the man's face. As that stormtrooper spun away, screaming in pain, a hail of red blaster bolts caught him in the chest, lifting him bodily off the ground and casually dropping him back to it, twitching.

The next stormtrooper suddenly exploded into flames, his white armor quickly melting as the man screamed shrilly in pain. Seconds later, the man collapsed into a heap on the sands, back bowed as his flesh burned away.

As the last stormtrooper stood there shocked at the sudden attack, Yuna reached out her right hand, her lightsaber leaping out of the sand and into her palm. Wrapping her hand tightly around the weapon, she pressed her thumb to the trigger switch while swinging quickly at the stormtrooper's legs.

Her attack not only knocked him off his feet, it also severed his legs at the shin, leaving cauterized stumps in their places. As the scent of burned flesh increased tenfold, Yuna rose up to her knee, spinning the lightsaber several times around her right hand, then driving the humming blue-green blade directly into the still-living stormtrooper's chest, all the way through into the sand below.

Dropping his blaster, the man clutched futilely at the blade of energy piercing his chest, his legs twitching violently. Then, his body stiffening, he collapsed back to the sands.

Yuna stood up, pulling the lightsaber from the chest of the dead stormtrooper, and turned in the direction the attacks had come from. As she had expected, she found Lulu and Wakka standing there. Well, Lulu anyway. Wakka was standing a few feet away from Yuna, attempting to pull his blitzball off the face of the stormtrooper he had killed.

A little to the side and behind Yuna stood a pair of Imperial stormtroopers. Yuna tensed, but recognized that they weren't attacking her friends, nor were her friends attacking them. Holding the still-glowing lightsaber at her side, she walked over to Lulu, smiling happily.

"So, you've fully matured into a Jedi," the black mage said, balancing the Onion Knight doll and Vidina in her arms.

"Ya, take a look at you, eh?" Wakka agreed, walking up on Yuna's left side. "You don't look no different, but that laser sword makes you seem like a whole different person, ya?"

"I hope that isn't true," Yuna replied, a little sadly. "I don't want to be a stranger just because I can use the Force now."

"You don't have to worry about that," Lulu said. "To us, you'll always be the same Yuna that we guarded on her pilgrimage to defeat Sin."

"Ya, you're no different to us. Always gonna be that same little wide-eyed girl that Kimahri brought to Besaid twelve years ago."

Yuna's smile widened as she took a moment to remember the days she had spent as a child in Besaid. Before her pilgrimage, before Sir Jecht, before Tidus, and before the Empire. Then her eyes fell on the two stormtroopers standing silently nearby, and she pointed to them with her free hand. "Friends of yours?"

"Oh, ya!" Wakka said, turning and waving his left hand at the stormtroopers. "C'mon over, guys and meet Yuna!"

As the stormtroopers approached, Yuna noticed that they were both warily watching her right hand. Looking down, she noticed that her lightsaber was still on. "Oh!" she said, quickly thumbing the button to banish the glowing blade. "Sorry, I forgot."

"No need to apologize, Lady Yuna," TC-762 said, waving a hand. "It is an honor to meet you."

"You as well," she replied with a nod and a smile. "Please, just call me Yuna."

"As you wish," 762 answered with a nod of his helmeted head. "I'm TC-762." His motion indicated the other stormtrooper. "This is my partner, JN-495."

She frowned and tilted her head to the side. "Don't you have real names?"

The two stormtroopers exchanged a glance. It had been so long since they'd given their real names that they thought for a moment they wouldn't remember them.

"Come to think of it," Wakka said, "you guys never _did_ tell us your names, ya?"

JN-495 spoke up. "My name is Jake Evas."

"Stev Wan," TC-762 said after a moment of thought.

Yuna's smile returned. "It's very nice to meet you both." She tilted her head to one side, looking curiously at the two. "I wonder, though, how two of the Empire's stormtroopers came to our side?"

"Eh, the Empire never really did much for me to begin with," Jake replied, shrugging his armored shoulders. "I like it here on Spira. Even if I could leave, I wouldn't want to."

"These two are heroes," Lulu said, as evenly as ever. "If it weren't for them, no one from Besaid would be left alive. They managed to smuggle us off the island before the Empire bombarded it."

Yuna's expression was a mix of admiration and happiness. Smiling widely, she bowed in the direction of the stormtroopers. "I'm very grateful to you."

"It was nothing," Stev answered, for once thankful for the fact that the helmet would hide his sudden discomfort. "The Empire has a habit of slaughtering innocent people for no reason. We didn't want that to happen to the villagers of Besaid. We'd gotten pretty attached to your down-to-Coruscant way of life."

"Down-to-Coruscant?" Wakka repeated, scratching his head in confusion.

"It means laid back, Wakka," Lulu answered for the stormtroopers, mild admonishment in her tone.

Before any conversation could continue, the Al Bhed squad leader cleared his throat and approached the group, turning toward Yuna. "Lady Yuna, the Imperial army is in full retreat."

---

Later that night, the victorious Al Bhed celebrated their first major victory against the Empire. Yuna drifted away from the victory celebrations that included a generous amount of alcohol, and found herself sitting atop a sand dune a short distance away from the excavation camp, staring up into the star-filled sky.

"Would you mind some company?"

Yuna looked back over her shoulder, smiling slightly at Lenne, who stood a few feet behind her. "No, not at all. Please, sit."

Walking over and lowering herself to the sand, Lenne folded her legs beneath her and looked up into the sky, silent for several long moments. Finally, the songstress looked over at the High Summoner. "You don't look happy."

Smiling a sad smile, Yuna glanced over at her friend. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Lenne said, shaking her head. "I know exactly how you feel. This is the first time you've fought in a major war, isn't it?"

"Yes." Yuna looked down at the ground sadly, absently picking at her fingernails. "Sin and Vegnagun were completely different."

Lenne slid over and comfortingly put an arm around the younger woman. "I know, Yuna, I know. You had to kill today, and keep on killing. Believe me, Yuna, I know what that's like."

Yuna knew what she was talking about. "How do you manage to kill the way you do and yet not be saddened?"

"It isn't that I'm not saddened. I've simply learned how to hide what I feel. I don't like the killing any more now than I did a thousand years ago. I will never enjoy killing. Neither will Shuyin, and neither will Tidus. That is what separates us from the Empire. We kill to defend our homes and our loved ones, yet we find no joy in taking lives."

Yuna's smile was watery. "Thank you, Lenne. You don't know how much that meant to me."

The songstress smiled in return and gave the younger woman a hug. "Anytime, Yuna. I'm always glad to help."

"Hey, what are you two talking about over there?" came the brash voice of Jecht. To their mutual surprise, he sounded quite sober. He was the first one they would've expected to drink himself unconscious.

"Girl talk," Lenne answered, shooting the older blitzer a fake glare. "Go away."

Raising his hands in surrender, Jecht turned and walked back toward where Auron, Tidus, Shuyin, and Braska were sitting around a fire, discussing something that was obviously amusing to them. Every now and again, their combined laughter would ring out over the camp.

Yuna smiled faintly as she watched them. Excepting Shuyin, those four men were the only family she had ever known.

"Well," Lenne said, "that girl talk excuse will only work for so long, so let's make use of it and make some girl talk."

Yuna didn't answer, simply blinking confusedly at the other woman.

Laughing softly, Lenne removed her arm from around Yuna's shoulders and looked back to the men sitting around the fire, then back up toward the stars. "Have you ever talked to Tidus about the next step in your relationship?"

"Next step?" Yuna repeated, having some idea as to what Lenne meant.

"Marriage, of course," the singer answered. "It's obvious that the two of you are meant to be together."

Yuna's cheeks immediately flushed red. "I, well, I umm… You see…"

"But you have thought about it?"

Sucking in a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself, Yuna nodded quickly. "Yes."

"Then you should talk to him about it." Lenne's features broke into a grin. "If nothing else, you'll get the pleasure of seeing him sputter like an idiot when you bring up the subject."

Yuna laughed softly in reply.

"Oh, that reminds me," Lenne said as she leaned in close to Yuna, dropping her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "I have this prank in mind that I want you and Tidus to help me with…"

---

"And so then, Auron and I are just standing there, trying to pretend that we don't even know him, as Jecht is running through the streets of Zanarkand desperately trying to keep himself covered and finding any sort of clothing at the same time," Braska said, his expression highly amused.

Tidus, Shuyin, Auron, and Braska shared in the laughter as Jecht returned to the group, flopping down in front of the fire and crossing his legs.

"You should've known better, old man," Tidus said, wiping at his eyes.

"Yeah, well it's not my fault that I'm such a legend that anybody would want me on their team," Jecht said stubbornly, trying to preserve some dignity. "They probably would've signed me too, if I hadn't told them what to do with themselves after those clowns pulled that stunt."

"Ah, but that's not where the story ends, Jecht," Braska said.

The blitzer muttered something that sounded like a curse and covered his face with a hand. "Geeze, you didn't tell them _that_ part, did you?"

"I was about to," the former high summoner replied.

"So what were they talking about?" Shuyin asked, sparing Jecht further embarrassment.

"They said it was girl talk," Jecht answered, giving Shuyin a look that expressed his gratefulness. "And then told me to go away."

"That means they're talking about us," Shuyin said, nudging Tidus in the side. "Or sex. Or both. Probably both."

"Not Yuna," Tidus answered, blushing furiously. "She doesn't talk about that kind of stuff."

Laughing, Shuyin leaned back on his hands and looked up at the stars. "Ah, but Lenne _loves_ that kind of cheesy girl talk. I remember back in Zanarkand, whenever she'd get together with some of her girlfriends, they'd talk on and on for _hours_ about all the latest gossip and fashion and whatever. Consider yourself lucky that Yuna doesn't do the same."

Shrugging slightly, Tidus scratched the back of his head. "You'd be surprised, what with hanging around Rikku and all. But hey, I'm not complaining."

"You'd better not," Jecht said from across the fire, crossing his arms and staring sternly at his son. "You'd better be grateful for what you've got, because it can all be gone in an instant."

Tidus winced slightly. In the midst of this war where it was very much possible that either he or Yuna would die, he didn't need to be reminded of the fact that he was still very much a dream of the fayth. "Dad," he growled.

"Aw, what's the matter?" the elder blitzer said, his voice mocking. "Gonna cry again? Cry, cry, that's all that you're good for!"

"That's not true!" Tidus shouted, jumping to his feet. His outburst drew a few curious looks from nearby groups, including Yuna and Lenne. "I'm not a kid anymore, old man! There is worth to me, damn it! I'm the one Yuna's been depending on this whole time for the strength to go on!"

Jecht merely stared at his son, that mocking expression still on his face, then he burst out in laughter. "Good, boy! You _have_ learned something since you've come back to Spira! If you'd let yourself believe what I said, I would've dragged your sorry ass all the way back to Zanarkand until you learned exactly what you just told me. Whether or not you have anything else you're good for, which you do, the most important thing that you're good for is that you are Yuna's rock."

Uncrossing his arms, the veteran blitzer waved his right hand dismissively, his expression now serious. "You're exactly right, son. Yuna depends on you for her courage and strength. As long as you're there with her, she's willing to face any situation without backing down. Yuna needs you. That's all that matters."

"And whether you have realized it yet or not," Braska said, "you also need her."

Tidus nodded at Yuna's father, sitting down again. "I know. I can't live without her. Every second I spent in the dream Zanarkand, away from her, was torture."

"You've grown up a lot, son," Jecht said quietly, his expression earnest. "You've done good in my book. I'm proud of you."

"…Thanks, Dad."

"Tidus," Lenne said, resting her hand on the blond blitzer's shoulder. "Yuna wants to talk to you."

"Thanks, Lenne," Tidus replied, jumping to his feet and waltzing over to where Yuna sat.

As he left, Lenne settled down in the spot he had vacated, leaning against Shuyin. He wrapped his arms around her waist and laid his head atop hers. "Girl talk?" he asked.

Lenne smiled and stared dreamily into the fire. "Mostly. I talked her into growing up just a little more than she already is."

Auron raised an eyebrow, Braska smiled proudly, and Jecht scratched his head confusedly. "What do you mean by that?" the tanned man asked.

"You'll see. Soon."

---

Tidus flopped down onto the sand beside Yuna, smiling warmly. "Hey."

Yuna stood up as he sat down, only to move over to where he was sitting and sit down on his lap. She leaned back against him, resting her head on his shoulder. "Hi," she said.

His smile increasing, Tidus slid his arms around her waist and held her tightly to him, looking over the top of her head to the vast expanses of the desert. He said nothing more, knowing that she wanted to talk to him, and so he simply waited for her.

For several long minutes after that, the couple sat in comfortable silence, both enjoying the sensation of the other's proximity and warmth in the rapidly-cooling desert. Finally, Yuna shifted slightly in his lap, turning her head to look at him with her crystal blue eye. "Lenne…was talking to me earlier."

"I know," he said softly. "I asked her to, since you two seem so close. Did she help?"

Yuna nodded, laying her head back against his chest and staring out into the desert on his left side. "I was feeling bad about all the people I killed today, and she helped me put that in perspective. I don't feel any better about having to kill, but at least she helped me realize that it was necessary."

Tidus simply nodded, letting her speak since it seemed to him that she had more to say that was difficult for her to come out with.

Blinking in sedate happiness, Yuna listened to his heart beating under her ear for a few moments. "Then she started talking to me about us. You and I. I…" She stopped, sighing slowly.

"Yuna, it's okay. Take your time."

Smiling, Yuna laid her hands over his and squeezed them gently. "She… suggested that I talk to you about what we were going to do next. Together, I mean." She paused, then shook her head, her earring clinking slightly in the silence. "I mean…"

"I know what you mean," he said, running his thumb along the waistband of her shorts. "In our relationship."

"Yes." The High Summoner took a deep breath, looking up into the night sky. "She said that I should talk to you about marriage."

"Well, let's talk."

Yuna blushed slightly, looking down at her feet. "Well, do you want to get married?"

"Of course I do," he answered, giving her waist a squeeze. "I just got done telling my old man that you are my life, Yuna. Without you, I have no reason to be here."

Yuna smiled happily at his words, her eyes closed, as she reached out and touched his presence in the Force, letting his love flow through her. Sitting there, held in his arms, she felt safe, content, and loved. She had no idea how she had managed to live without this love for seventeen years. "I love you," she said.

"I love you, too," he murmured against her hair, as he kissed the top of her head.

"I…want to marry you, too," she said shyly, leaning her head back to look into his eyes. "But we can't now. Not in the middle of this war."

He nodded, smiling gently. "I know, Yuna. After the war. I'll take you to the biggest victory celebration on Spira, then we'll get married the next day. How's that sound?"

She giggled as she lowered her eyes once more to the horizon, feeling as though the smile on her face was permanently etched in place and that her heart was floating higher than the Imperial Super Star Destroyer in orbit. "That sounds great."

* * *

**A/N:** The Battle of Bikanel ran shorter and with less actual fighting than I anticipated. Hm. Oh well. I like how this chapter turned out, anyway. It's got something for everyone: Starts off with hectic war and things getting boomfucked all over the place, then ends off with a nice peaceful moment of reflection for our heroes. I like this chapter the most, I think, because I tried to get back into the main characters' heads, the way I was doing all throughout the first four or five chapters. 

And in other news, Happy Holidays, people! My present to you is a chapter that can please everyone. Heh. And now, on to shout-outs.

**madmaz:** Well of course. Heh. I was setting Vader up for his epic confrontation with Luke at the end of RotJ. This fic, as I said earlier, takes place between tESB and RotJ. And about the idea of bringing the angle of love into it, it just struck me suddenly while I was down there writing the introduction to the Battle of Bikanel and I was grumbling to myself about how much I hated the duel that I'd written.

**Wolfy16:** Hah. Well, when I started, I wanted to live up to the epic duels as seen in Episodes I and II, but then halfway through I just lost concentration or something. I never have been good at writing sword duels anyway. I'm a gunplayer myself.

**Furitaurus:** I wasn't thinking of the physics angle when I had her lightsaber floating in the water. The concept of her looking around and finding it floating a few feet away was asthetically-pleasing, so I put it in that way. Physics and other advanced sciences are not my schtick. Merry Christmas!

**Morgaine of the Fairies:** Hah, you just can't seem to get a break, can you? _Discreetly loans you Shuyin to eliminate the nuisance on your end._ Anyways, I guess I managed to pull one of those duels where greatness is measured on the ability to touch the audience rather than flashy moves. And I'm running out of ways for Lenne to kill people. /sob


	12. Chapter Twelve: Machina War Deux

It was just like any other day in the port city of Luca. Citizens strolled about the city on their way to work or their favorite spots to hang out. Imperial stormtroopers marched around the city in squads between four and nine, ushering along people who didn't seem to have an apparent destination.

At the docks, one squad of four stormtroopers finally caught up with a cloaked figure they had been chasing for ten minutes. "Alright, freeze! Turn around slowly and put your hands up."

The cloaked figure turned, but made no move to remove the cloak or raise his or her hands. "Death awaits you," said a masculine voice from beneath the hood.

Before the stormtroopers could react, they heard a distinctive _snap-hiss_ from behind them, then a loud hum. One of the stormtroopers let out a short, choked-off cry of pain or surprise, and moments later the sound of armor clattering to the ground echoed across the docks.

The hum repeated itself, and another stormtrooper screamed.

"Blast 'em!" called the other stormtrooper who was still alive. Seconds later, blaster fire rang out in the air.

The stormtrooper leader turned around to see a woman with mismatched blue and green eyes, short light brown hair, dressed in whites, pinks, and blues. She held a lightsaber in her hands, the blue-green blade humming as she spun the weapon effortlessly and deflected the blaster bolts of the other stormtrooper.

She stepped forward as she continued deflecting the bolts, forcing the stormtrooper to slowly shuffle backwards. As she reached him, an almost-gentle swing of the weapon bisected the stormtrooper's E-11, then she spun completely around once, lightsaber flashing directly at the armored man's neck.

The leader of the now-dead patrol looked down in horror at his fellow's helmet, with his head still inside, rolling across the concrete of the docks. A flash of movement brought his attention back up just in time to meet eyes with blue and green, as her brilliant blade whose color accented her eyes crashed down into his field of vision.

---

Yuna pulled her lightsaber from the head of the last stormtrooper, looking past the tumbling body to Shuyin, who was pulling off the hood of his cloak. "It's time," she said. "Give the signal."

Nodding, Shuyin withdrew a spiked red-and-black blitzball from his cloak and set it on the ground before him. Sliding his foot under it, he kicked it up into the air, then bounced it up higher with his knee. As he did so, he drew out his sword and stabbed it into the ground. The ball came down once more, and he ducked to slam it up into the air with his head.

He jumped up onto the hilt of his sword, then kicked off of it and into the air. Twisting in midair, he turned his momentum into a backward flip, watching the ball as it sailed down toward him. As it reached him, he kicked it as hard as he could, sending it flying high into the sky.

A hundred feet or so into the air, the ball burst into a blindingly-bright Flare, its light visible all over Luca and signaling the various forces in and around the city that the time was at hand.

Suddenly, the skies overhead were filled with LAAT/i gunships, each of them loaded down with Al Bhed soldiers. One of the LAAT/i's landed on the dock beside Yuna and Shuyin, disgorging its thirty troops, all of which immediately stormed past the two and charged toward the blitzball stadium. Moments later, they could hear blaster fire starting up around the far side of the stadium.

Pulling his sword out of the ground, Shuyin turned toward Yuna. "Lenne will help them take the stadium. I'll handle the exit to the Mi'ihen Highroad. You concentrate on the town itself."

"Right," she said, then turned and ran toward the bridge leading toward Luca itself.

As she turned onto the bridge, she saw that bodies littered the steps up to the stadium, mostly Imperials, but there were a few scattered Al Bhed as well. Turning her attention back ahead of her, she saw two mounted blaster turrets on either side of the bridge, pointed toward the city.

Increasing her speed, she dashed forward, holding her lightsaber back over her right shoulder in a position she had seen Auron use many times during her pilgrimage. She swung the lightsaber forward as she skidded to a halt behind the open back end of the turret, cleaving the man in half from right shoulder to left hip.

She turned toward the other turret as it turned in her direction, its operator having heard the anguished outcry of the stormtrooper she had just killed. Reaching deep into the Force, she leapt high into the air, nimbly dodging the heavy blasts of the turret. She spun her lightsaber as she came down, driving the blade of the weapon through the stormtrooper's helmet as she landed on the very edge of the turret, easily maintaining her balance on the thin piece of metal.

As she leapt off and turned to continue her run into the city, a LAAT/i landed on the bridge and disgorged four of the thirty troops it carried on-board. Once they had disembarked, the LAAT/i lifted into the air and turned back toward the docks. The four troops it had dropped all wore the heavier armor of commandos, and she recognized the insignia on their armor.

"Lady Yuna," the leader of the squad, known as Atin, said. "You're going to the city square?"

"Yes," Yuna replied, nodding.

Nodding as well, Atin turned to his men. "Vuns ib ynuiht Lady Yuna. Desa du bmyo mejehk shield vun y frema."

Her lightsaber humming vibrantly at her side, Yuna ran toward the city square, surrounded by the Al Bhed commandos. Across the bridge, she could see squads of stormtroopers patrolling the area, some of them gearing up to push toward the Spiran forces that were holding the only land-bound exit of the city. So far, the stormtroopers hadn't noticed their approach.

The Al Bhed around her did not fire. Every second they held their fire and approached without alerting the stormtroopers greatly improved their chances of shooting accurately.

A handful of meters from the end of the bridge, Darman and Niner, running in front of Yuna, each pulled a military-grade thermal detonator from their utility belts, arming the devices and hurling them toward the square. The grenades exploded just as the group stepped off the end of the bridge, sending the armored soldiers of the Empire flying.

Yuna immediately turned to the right, her lightsaber leaving a blue-green trail in the air as she slashed it through the barrel of the blaster turret at her side. She swiftly drew one of her pistols in her left hand and placed it against the man's forehead. At such close range, the plastoid helmet would not protect him. She pulled the trigger, the force of the heavy armor-piercing bullet kicking back her arm.

Holstering the pistol, she quickly spun around and pushed her left hand out toward the other turret. The turret shuddered once, then the entire thing was lifted from the ground and hurled out into the ocean below, stormtrooper and all.

The commandos spread out around the plaza, their blasters screaming endlessly as their blue bolts burned down stormtroopers as soon as they emerged from nearby buildings. Return fire sparked off the Protect shields surrounding the commandos, but despite this, the Al Bhed soldiers ducked partially under cover, still firing at the stormtroopers.

Fi set up the portable E-web blaster cannon near the ruined turret, positioning it so that the vast majority of the plaza could quickly be brought under its punishing fire arc. As Fi started firing the much heavier bolts of the E-web at any stormtroopers he saw, Atin stood nearby, using his DC-17m special operations blaster rifle to cover what little of the square that the heavy gunner couldn't.

Running across the square, Yuna moved directly toward the last two blaster turrets, knowing that they would mass their fire against Fi's E-web. She swung her glowing blade expertly, deflecting the heavy blaster bolts to the ground, into the air, and against nearby walls. Reaching deep into the Force, Yuna moved the lightsaber before her to intercept a blaster bolt, then turned her blade to the side the instant the bolt struck, guiding it into the head of the stormtrooper she was running past.

Just as she turned to attack the last stormtrooper, a blue bolt from Atin's DC-17 shot past her, crushing into the torso armor of the stormtrooper and knocking him backwards out of the turret. She turned, noticing the lack of fire coming or going from the commandos, and saw that the square was littered with the bodies of Imperial stormtroopers. Turning away, she turned up the gain on her comlink in time to hear Atin say, _"We've captured the command post."_

Almost immediately, another voice answered, _"Imperial forces have lost the stadium."_

---

As blaster bolts shot back and forth between the stands in the stadium, Lenne stood in the praetor's box, watching the battle unfold before her. Shuyin had unleashed dozens of fiends into the stadium, which were now assaulting the Imperials in packs. Despite the best efforts of the fiends, and the Al Bhed soldiers, the Imperials were still stubbornly refusing to give up the stadium.

She looked on closely as one stormtrooper stopped, cupping a hand to his helmet, then began signaling to the men nearby while presumably giving out orders to the others over his helmet comlink. Then, to her surprise, the stormtroopers stood up and began retreating out of the stadium. She quickly gestured with her hands and the stormtrooper leader burst into flames. Despite this, the rest of the group continued their orderly retreat.

The soldiers and fiends in the stadium pressed their advantage, taking down more Imperials in those few seconds of retreat than they had during the previous fighting. She dispassionately watched a pack of three wild wolves descend on a hapless stormtrooper, their razor-sharp teeth crushing the man's white armor as they quite literally tore him limb from limb. As she watched, an arm flew into the air, still clutched tightly to the E-11 carbine.

Within seconds, the Imperials had completely left the stadium, running for the bridge toward the city proper, unknowing that the city was already under Spira's control. Lenne made her way out of the praetor's box just in time to see the stormtroopers falling all over themselves in an attempt to check their forward momentum as Yuna planted herself in their path and activated her lightsaber.

Finally realizing that they were completely surrounded and hopelessly outnumbered, the stormtroopers simply placed their blaster carbines on the ground and raised their hands over their heads.

---

In orbit, aboard the Super Star Destroyer _Executor_, Admiral Piett watched the world of Spira turn lazily on its axis below him. He would definitely lose sleep over the order to execute Base Delta Zero, but fortunately he had never gone down to the planet and met its populace. He would not be plagued by nightmares of the heavy bombardment turbolasers crushing down on countless human lives, the way he had been after massacres of other planets he had had the misfortune of setting foot on.

Like other Imperial officers, Admiral Piett was not fond of committing genocide. However, being captain of Lord Vader's personal Super Star Destroyer meant that one set aside their moral quandaries at the start of each work day, or they quickly found themselves on the receiving end of the Dark Lord's mysterious powers.

An aide appeared at the admiral's side. "Admiral Piett, the Emperor has issued a recall order to the fleet, effective immediately. All ships are to rendezvous in the Endor system within four days."

"At maximum speed, how long would it take us to reach the Endor system from our current location?" Piett already knew the answer to that question; he knew exactly how long it would take for the Super Star Destroyer to cross from one side of the galaxy to the other, at any speed. But it was protocol to ask the question.

"Approximately one day and seven hours, sir," the aide replied. "Give or take."

Piett nodded, recalling that the exact amount of time would be one day, six hours, and fifty-seven minutes. "Then we shall remain on station until two days before the deadline. That should be ample time for our forces on the ground to crush their little rebellion."

"But what of the reports of a Jedi fighting with the Rebels on the planet?"

"Nonsense," Piett replied, waving his hand. "Lord Vader dealt with that so-called Jedi before he left. The reports coming in now are obviously someone who found another lightsaber and is pretending to be a Jedi. Pay it no heed."

"Yes, Admiral."

"So, what new reports are there on the Rebels' activity?"

"They've recaptured the southern port city. The garrison left there was almost completely wiped out, save for a few that they took prisoner. The TIE squadron nearby was caught on the ground and destroyed before they could harass the Rebel transports. Aside from the capital city and the plains holding the shield generator, they now control the world."

Piett gazed down at the tops of the clouds covering the Zanarkand Ruins. The admiral much enjoyed staring down at nonindustrial worlds from orbit; the beauty of an unmarred natural world always appealed to him. "Don't you think it fascinating how they managed to quickly utilize the Old Republic weapons and vehicles so quickly?"

"Our information has indicated that one of the indigenous peoples are very technologically-inclined. It's no surprise that they would have learned how to operate the Republic technology, but their learning it so quickly was quite unexpected."

"Such a shame, then," Piett said, "that they have chosen to rebel against us. They could have made excellent technicians and instructors for the Empire."

"Some things cannot be helped, Admiral."

"No, indeed they cannot." Piett finally turned away from the viewport, facing his aide directly. "Well, if we are to rejoin the Imperial fleet and perhaps be visited by the Emperor himself, then we must make sure the ship is in top condition. I want all available hands cleaning up the ship and making sure all systems are in the prime form."

---

The fleet that the Spirans had assembled was an impressive one, indeed. _Airship_ and _Celsius_, the two largest ships in their possession, were the flagships of the fleet. Other, smaller transport ships they had salvaged served as the troop and fighter transports. Down on the seas below were dozens of small, fast, blockade runner ships, set low to the water and sporting a heavy machine gun in a turret atop the ship toward the front. They were also surrounded by several destroyer-type ships, the survivors of the New Yevon navy.

A large group had gathered in the cabin of the _Celsius_ as plans were being formed for the final assault against the Empire. When Yuna walked in, all of her friends as well as several commanders of task forces were all present. Tidus waved her over to the seat he had saved for her beside him. Smiling, she crossed the room and sat down, placing a hand on his leg.

As soon as she had sat down, Baralai stood up and moved toward the clear space in the center of the room. "The Empire has made a grave mistake, and the time for our attack has come. Thanks to our two Imperial defectors," his gesture took in the two stormtroopers, Jake and Stev, "we have learned that the _Executor_ will be leaving our system soon. It has also come to our attention that the Empire is building some sort of planet-destroying weapon within the walls of Bevelle. It is crucial that we take the city before this weapon is completed. Nooj?"

Baralai stepped off to the side as the leader of the Youth League stood up and stiff-legged his way into the center of the room. "Although this weapon is not yet operational, that is not to say it is totally defenseless. As you may know, the shield generator built in the Thunder Plains is providing a protective shield to Bevelle that must be taken down if any attack is to be attempted. Once down, our transports will penetrate the perimeter of the city by sea and sky, and we will search and destroy this superweapon. Commander Vale has volunteered to lead this attack."

"Good luck!" Gippal called from across the room. At the Rebel's look, the Al Bhed man rolled his eyes. "You're gonna need it…"

"What about the shield?" Paine asked simply.

"With the help of Jake and Stev, we have stolen a small Imperial shuttle and a clearance code, which should get us into the Thunder Plains. A small strike team will go into the plains and destroy the shield bunker."

"I wonder who they got to lead that attack," Yuna said softly, leaning against Tidus.

"Uhh, yeah, well, about that…" he replied.

Nooj turned his gaze toward the blond blitzer. "Tidus, is your team ready?"

"Ah, I've got the _team_ ready, but I haven't picked out a command crew for the shuttle yet," Tidus answered.

"Tidus," Yuna said, loud enough for the gathered crowd to hear. "Count me in."

"Oooh, me too, me too!" Rikku spoke up, jumping up and down excitedly.

"I guess I'm with you too," Paine said.

"Kimahri will also go," the blue-skinned Ronso said, his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall. "Kimahri will help protect Yuna, help destroy shield gen-er-a-tor."

Scratching the back of his head, Tidus turned his gaze toward Nooj. "Well, there's my command crew."

The leader of the Youth League nodded, then looked back toward the assembled group. "Rest and prepare for now. There will be subsequent briefings where individual roles will be assigned. Until then, dismissed."

With that, the assembly broke up. Yuna and Tidus remained where they were sitting. Rikku, Gippal, and a bunch of Al Bhed technicians who had sat in on the briefing immediately made for the elevator and descended to the engineering level of the _Celsius_. Paine headed up toward the upper level where the beds were, while Baralai turned around on his barstool and ordered a meal from Barkeep.

Yuna and Tidus sat in comfortable silence for several minutes, until Rikku's voice burst over the ship's internal comm system. _"Yunie! Get down to the engine room and see what we've got!"_

Standing up, Yuna smiled and pulled Tidus to his feet, then linked her hand with his and walked toward the elevator. Once aboard, she pressed the button to take them down into the engineering section.

Once they reached it, the two stepped off into the mad workshop of the Al Bhed technicians. Various tools and equipment were scattered all over the place, and off along one wall sat a neat row of a double dozen vehicles of some kind that looked like motorcycles without any sort of propulsion. They all had what appeared to be rocket motors welded onto their aft ends.

"Yunie!" the cheery voice of Rikku called from near the row of vehicles as the blonde Al Bhed girl poked her head out, her face stained with grease. She pointed at the row of vehicles with a wrench. "Look at what we made!"

Yuna stepped up to one of the vehicles and looked at it oddly, then blinked up at her cousin. "What are they?"

"They're speeder bikes," Gippal's voice replied from the lower level as the one-eyed man walked up the stairway. "Salvaged them from the sunken ships. We came up with a few special plans for getting a lot of troops into Bevelle in a hurry. These here bikes are a part of it. We've got about a hundred of them stashed on our airship, with the same number on the other one."

"So…what are they for?" Tidus asked.

"Well, if you've been up to the deck recently, you'll notice we've grafted a series of ramps on the deck. We put these speeders on the ramps, and use the rocket engines we grafted onto them to give them extra propulsion, and we've got airmobile infantry in a hurry."

Rikku nodded excitedly and skipped over to a row of jetpacks hung along the opposite wall. "We took the rocket motors off of these and put them on the speeders. But we can use these jetpacks too! They have a recharging fuel cell, so we can use them to quickly move troops from the ships to the city. And once there, they'll even have the ability to use them in combat for quick controlled bursts of flight."

Yuna blinked. "Wow. That's quite the impressive arsenal you've managed to put together."

"Well, we need every advantage we can get, you know," Gippal said. "All their forces are holed up in Bevelle. The fighting is going to be extremely fierce."

"_Tidus, it's time to move out with your team."_

The blond blitzer looked up at the intercom, then turned back toward the two Al Bhed in front of him. "Well, looks like we gotta go. Gippal, take care of yourself."

Gippal nodded his head. "You, too. Don't let Cid's girl get herself blasted, okay?"

"You got it!" Tidus answered, laughing.

At the same time, Rikku stamped her feet and shook a fist at Gippal. "E ryja e name, oui ghuf!"

Without a word, Yuna grabbed her cousin by the arm and proceeded to drag the still-shrieking Al Bhed girl out of the engineering section, with Tidus in tow.

---

Fifteen minutes later, Tidus walked onto the Imperial _Lambda_-class shuttle wearing the nondescript grey uniform of an Imperial technician. Yuna and Rikku wore identical uniforms, while Paine, Jake, and Stev were all wearing stormtrooper uniforms. Kimahri, who had no way of disguising himself as Imperial, was simply wearing his normal attire. In the back section were fifty of the finest troops and demolitions specialists in Spira's arsenal.

"We ready?" the blitzer asked, dropping into the pilot's seat.

"Yeah, she's coming up," Rikku replied, manipulating dials and switches on the cockpit's ceiling.

"This cockpit too small," Kimahri said, strapping himself into the copilot's seat. "Kimahri not going to enjoy this ride."

Smiling, Yuna reached forward and laid a hand on the Ronso's shoulder. "I don't think the Empire had Ronsos in mind when they designed her, Kimahri," she said with a giggle.

"Thankfully, it'll be a short trip," Paine said, the stormtrooper helmet resting in her lap. She wasn't comfortable with being unable to use her sword in the stormtrooper armor, but she was proficient with firearms thanks to her occasional use of Yuna's Gunner dressphere.

"Everybody got some kind of lightning-nullifying item or armor on?" Tidus asked, looking around as he tapped the pulsing yellow ring he wore under the black Imperial gloves.

Yuna nodded her head, lifting her left hand to reveal the faint yellow glow through the glove. Rikku did likewise. Paine simply nodded, while Jake and Stev poked nervously at the location of the lightning-ward sigils on the inside of their armor. Kimahri merely patted the silver-and-purple bracers he wore on both arms.

"Alright," Tidus said with a nod. "Everybody ready?"

"All set," Yuna replied.

There was silence for a moment, then Paine said, "Here we go again."

Tidus manipulated the controls of the shuttle, and it gently rose from the floor on its repulsorlifts. With another touch to the controls, the shuttle slipped out of the landing bay of the _Airship_. As soon as he cleared the bay, he touched another button, but a shocked expression crossed his face as a pair of heavy green laser bolts shot out of the blaster cannons on either side of the wingmounts, barely missing a LAAT/i transport.

"Oops," Tidus said, blushing furiously. "That's not what I meant to do…"

Sighing, Rikku leaned forward and flipped a switch. A gentle thrum ran through the shuttle as the two raised wings to either side folded down into their flight position, in the shape of an inverted-y.

"Maybe I should fly," the Al Bhed girl said.

"I've got it now!" Tidus replied indignantly, then turned the shuttle on its course toward the Thunder Plains. "I'll get us there in no time flat!"

* * *

** A/N:** Much thanks to everyone who has encouraged me to go on with this. I've been on and off about it for a week or so now, and I finally decided to just cut out that entire scene in Luca and move on. So yeah, this is the shittiest chapter I've ever written. Sorry.

No shout-outs this chapter. I'm going right to work on the next one. You'll be able to tell by the title of that chapter "Into the Trap" that business is going to pick up.


	13. Chapter Thirteen: Into the Trap

Approximately an hour later, the shuttle carrying the Rebel group slowly approached the Thunder Plains from the west. Inside, the command crew nervously sat in their seats, praying that they wouldn't get caught.

"If they don't go for this," Paine said, "we're going to have to get out of here pretty quick."

A faint buzzing sound was the reply as an Imperial's voice filtered over their comlink. _"We have you on our screen now. Please identify."_

Tidus leaned forward and, after carefully checking that he was indeed about to press the comlink control, spoke into the device, "Shuttle _Intrepid_ requesting deactivation of the security shield."

He looked back to his comrades as the shuttle continued on its course toward the plains. Moments later, the voice came back.

"_Shuttle _Intrepid_, transmit the clearance code for shield passage."_

"Transmission commencing," Tidus said, letting Rikku lean over him and press the proper button.

"Now we find out if that code was worth the trouble we went through," Jake said dryly.

"It'll work," Tidus replied, trying to remain optimistic. "Come on, we can do this!"

"_Shuttle_ Intrepid_, what is your cargo and destination?"_

"Parts and technical crew for the shield generator," Tidus replied, struggling to keep ahead of the Imperials' questions.

For several long minutes, the group waited in silence. Finally, Paine said, "They're not going for it."

As if to debunk her statement, the comlink beeped again and the voice of the Imperial controller returned. _"Shuttle_ Intrepid_, deactivation of the security shield will commence immediately. Continue on your present course."_

"I told you it was going to work," Tidus said, angling the ship down toward the Thunder Plains. "No problem."

The shuttle descended into darkness, the ever-present storm clouds of the Thunder Plains surrounding the ship as rain pelted the metal hull, lightning flashed through the skies, and thunder boomed all around them.

Rikku shivered slightly in her seat, glancing around nervously at the booming thunder. Yuna, in contrast, sat completely calm in her seat, her eyes closed. She seemed to be meditating. Kimahri, as usual, had no discernible expression. The two former stormtroopers had already replaced their helmets, and Paine looked bored.

Moments later, the shuttle penetrated the lowest layer of the clouds, the Thunder Plains panning out before it. Tidus expertly guided the shuttle away from the main path through the plains, heading toward a small cleared space amongst a series of large, rocky outcrops.

Within a few minutes, the group had disembarked from the shuttle. Paine had donned her helmet and stood with Stev and Jake, emulating their actions and motions almost perfectly. The Rebel strike force was clad in dark greys and blacks, to better blend in with the rocky surroundings of the Thunder Plains.

Tidus checked the unfamiliar blaster pistol holstered at his right side, then the sword on his other side. With that finished, he turned and looked at his strike force. "Well, let's go find the shield generator."

---

It was a place to which he had never intended to return. It was dark now, all the energies he had guided to this place in order to power the colossus returned elsewhere. But he could still see it, the huge looming shadow wrapped insect-like around countless platforms.

Shuyin looked to his side, where Lenne stood staring at the colossus known as Vegnagun, frozen in place by the sheer sight of it. He reached over and took her hands in his, squeezing them tightly. At his touch, she tore her eyes away from the weapon of mass destruction and stared deep into the shining blue orbs belonging to her lover.

"It's time, Lenne. The fate of Spira is in our hands."

The songstress smiled, squeezing his hands in return. "Yes. After this, we shall finally rest."

Hand in hand, the two began to run up the pathway toward Vegnagun.

---

Hundreds of vessels began to move off the coast of Bikanel Island. The seas were filled with blockade-running transports and destroyers, while hundreds of fighters and LAAT/i's dashed through the skies around the bigger transports and the two flagships of the Spiran fleet.

Leading the formation in his salvaged and repaired X-wing, Arren glanced around at the comfortingly-familiar cockpit gauges and screens. Behind him followed five LAAT/i gunship transports and six Delta-7 "Jedi" starfighters. His squadron, Gold Squadron, was the spearpoint of the Spiran fleet.

"Admiral, we're in position," Arren said over the comlink, defaulting to military rank in reference to Nooj, who was commanding the expedition from the bridge of the _Airship_. "All fighters accounted for."

"_Proceed with the countdown,"_ Nooj's distorted voice came in over the frequencies. _"All groups assume attack coordinates."_

One of the Al Bhed pilots in his squadron said something in his natural language to another pilot. Arren did not know the language himself, but it had been programmed into his comm system's translator. Words appeared on his text screen to let him know what the pilot had said.

"Don't worry, my friends are down there," the Rebel pilot replied to the statement. "They'll have that shield down on time." He paused, and toggled the switch to feed power to his deflector shields, before muttering more to himself, "Or this will be the shortest offensive of all time…"

"_All craft, prepare to engage engines on my mark."_

"All right, stand by," Arren said to his pilots, just seconds before kicking in his fuzial-thrust engines and blasting toward Bevelle. Hundreds of vessels of war followed in his wake.

---

At that same time, the Rebel group in the Thunder Plains were crouched behind an outcropping, looking down at the hidden back entrance to the shield generator that they had unwittingly stumbled upon.

Yuna stared through a set of macrobinoculars at the doors below. She could see one guard in the armored gear of Imperial scout troopers standing at the doors. "This shouldn't be too difficult. There's only one guard."

"It only takes one to sound the alarm," Paine replied, nodding her helmeted head.

"Then we do it real quiet-like!" Rikku answered, keeping her voice low to emphasize her point.

"We'll take care of this," Tidus said, motioning for several of the Rebel troops to go around to the side of the bunker. As he did so, he moved around to the opposite side of the bunker, making sure to keep a rock formation between him and the guard at the door.

Minutes later, Tidus ran out from the left side of the bunker, tapping the scout trooper on his right shoulder as he did so. As soon as he did, he ran quickly toward the other side of the bunker.

The scout trooper turned to his right, caught a flash of movement from the corner of his eye and quickly turned to see Tidus running away. "Hey!" He then ran after the retreating blitzer.

No sooner had the scout trooper rounded the corner when he realized his mistake. Paine, Jake, and Stev, all unhelmeted, as well as three other Rebel commandos, had leveled their blasters directly at the hapless trooper. Knowing that it was no use, the trooper lowered his arms to his side in a gesture of surrender.

Stev set his blaster rifle on the ground and began the process of exchanging his own stormtrooper armor for the scout armor worn by their prisoner. After that was finished, he bound the scout trooper's hands and feet with a length of cord from his utility belt, then stunned the trooper and deposited him behind a rock several meters away from the bunker.

In the meantime, a well-placed swing of Yuna's lightsaber triggered the doors of the bunker to slide open. She, as well as Tidus, Paine, Jake, Rikku, Kimahri, and several of the Rebel troops entered the bunker, most of them carrying packs of explosive charges. Outside, Stev took the guard position of the scout trooper and keyed the door shut behind them.

Nodding, Tidus led the way down into the shield bunker.

---

Shuyin watched the last of the aeons burst into pyreflies and return to their dormant state within Lenne's mind. With their help, and the help of a few of the larger fiends roaming the heart of the Farplane, Vegnagun's gigantic main cannon had been pointed up toward the "sky" where Shuyin would open a portal when it was time to fire.

He leapt up into the cockpit of Vegnagun, then turned and held out a hand for Lenne to join him. He didn't know if powering up the weapon again would bring his destructive side back to the front, but he _did_ know that having Lenne with him would keep that side from taking control. He didn't want to take any chances. Everything was depending on them.

As soon as Lenne's booted feet touched the metal floor of the cockpit, Shuyin turned and dropped himself into the same seat that he had occupied mere months before.

The first notes of the activation tune echoed out over the darkness, sending the fiends he had been employing to help him just moments before running for cover. As he continued to play, his fingers dancing over the keys of the organ-like control panel before him, the board pulsed to life, its multicolored keys reflecting their light across the faces of himself and Lenne.

Lenne reached out her right hand and placed it on Shuyin's shoulder, feeling the muscles of his arm twist and contort as his hands flew over the keys with a practiced grace. Listening closely to the song he was playing, she could have found its haunting melody a thing of beauty were it not used to activate the most destructive weapon on the face of Spira.

Without warning, Shuyin changed from the hauntingly-beautiful start-up melody to what she assumed was the command sequence to fire the main cannon. This music was more fast-paced, more militaristic in nature, and was filled with many dramatic pauses.

"Come, Vegnagun," Shuyin said suddenly, the hateful and cold tone to his voice sending shivers down Lenne's spine. She tightened her hold on his shoulder. "Let us purge the world of this repulsive Empire."

---

A sharp blast echoed through the sealed inner control room of the shield generator as the doors slid open, revealing Tidus standing there, Brotherhood in hand. Yuna held her glowing lightsaber in her hand directly behind him, and the presence of that weapon scared the four Imperial controllers more than the heavily-armed soldiers standing behind them.

"All right, up!" Tidus ordered. "Move! Come on, quickly, quickly! Kimahri."

Nodding in response, the elder Ronso moved to back the Imperials into a corner, keeping them under control at the edge of his spear. The other soldiers spread out to begin planting charges.

Yuna stepped around Tidus and pressed a button on the Imperial command console. "Tidus, we have to hurry. The fleet will be at Bevelle at any moment."

Holstering the Brotherhood, Tidus walked past Yuna and held out his hands toward one of the Rebels on the other side of the console. "Charges, come on! Let's do this!"

Outside, two Imperial stormtroopers stood guard at the entrance as an entire squad of stormtroopers ran at full speed into the bunker.

An Imperial officer suddenly stepped around the corner leading into the power generation room, pointing his blaster at the group. "Freeze!"

Without hesitating, Tidus reared back and hurled the case of charges at the man. Caught off-guard, the man toppled backwards over the safety railing with a scream of surprise.

As that man fell over, two stormtroopers came around the other side of the catwalk, as the squad from outside emerged into the room. Tidus turned around just as another officer leveled his blaster at him. "You rebel scum."

The controllers that Kimahri had previously been holding at bay all reached out and disarmed the Ronso, now that they were reinforced by more troops.

---

In the skies near Bevelle, the Spiran fleet suddenly dropped to normal cruising speed, moving into their designated units and advancing on the city. In his X-wing at the lead of the formation, Arren reached out and tapped his comm console. "All wings, report in."

"_Red Leader, standing by."_

"_Grey Leader, standing by."_

"_Green Leader, standing by."_

"_Switch on your deflector screens,"_ Gippal, the voice of Red Leader, said.

Arren reached over his left shoulder and flipped the s-foil accuator switch. He felt the gentle thrum course through his fighter as the wings split into their x-configuration that gave his ship its name.

"_May the Force be with us,"_ Nooj said over the comlinks.

Arren looked down as he heard the same pilot from before speaking in Al Bhed to one of his fellows. He read the translation, then keyed his comm unit. "We've got to be able to get some sort of reading on that shield, up or down."

"_But sir, what if they're jamming us?"_

"Well how could they be jamming us if they don't know­–" The Rebel pilot cut himself off, staring out at the city before him. Swearing, he brought up his weapons systems and fired a quad-linked laser burst at the city. He watched breathlessly for several long moments until the four red bolts splattered against an invisible energy shield and dissipated.

"Break off the attack!" Arren called frantically. "The shield is still up!"

"_I get no reading,"_ Gippal answered. _"You sure?"_

"Pull up! All craft, pull up!"

Even as he gave those orders, Arren jerked his control stick to the left and pulled back hard, acceleration forces crushing him back into his seat as he peeled away from the still-protected city and back the opposite direction. All around him, Jedi starfighters and LAAT/i's also frantically peeled away from the city, and further back, the larger ships began to awkwardly turn away as well.

"_Take evasive action!"_ Nooj called. _"Green Group, stick close to holding sector MV-7."_

"_Nooj,"_ Baralai's voice called out from another ship. _"We have enemy ships in Sector 47."_

"_It's a trap!"_

Still in the lead of the Spiran formation, Arren found himself flying his X-wing directly toward close to a hundred Imperial _Carrack_-class cruisers and ancient _Dreadnoughts_, the only large-scale combat vehicles that the Imperials could use in-atmosphere.

"Fighters, coming in!"

From ahead, a wall of TIE fighters of every make; standard, Interceptor, and bombers, flew head-on into the Spiran fleet, their green laser beams already seeking out targets amongst the mixed group.

"_There's too many of them!"_ a pilot called, just seconds before Arren watched a friendly blip disappear from his sensor screen.

"Accelerate to attack speed," Arren ordered as he brought his X-wing around in pursuit of a group of TIE Interceptors. "Draw their fire away from the cruisers."

"_Copy, Gold Leader."_

Arren shot down toward the _Airship_, his quad-linked lasers drilling straight into the twin ion engines of a TIE Interceptor and exploding the vehicle magnificently. He then pulled up and away from the cruiser, three TIE fighters following quickly in his wake.

---

The Imperial squadron led Tidus' group out of the shield bunker into a completely different scene than the one they had departed. An AT-ST walker had its blasters trained on the bunker entrance, the pilot standing in the topside hatch. Another pair of walkers were patrolling the Thunder Plains behind them. Nearly fifty Imperial troops were arrayed outside the bunker, many of them guarding the other members of Tidus' team, including Stev, still dressed as a scout trooper sans helmet.

"All right, move it!" one of the stormtroopers near Tidus said, ushering the group forward. "Keep moving, come on!"

The stormtroopers forced the group from inside the bunker into a rough line, along with the Spiran soldiers who had been caught outside. Yuna had an idea bouncing around the back of her head as to what the Imperials were doing, but her confusion was cleared beyond a shadow of a doubt when twenty-five stormtroopers lined up in front of them and trained their blasters on the Spirans.

Yuna closed her eyes, held them shut for a long moment, then opened them at the same time she reached over and took Tidus' hand. They looked toward each other at the same moment, and she knew that he was also aware of what was happening.

This was almost exactly like her nightmare…

---

Lenne gasped loudly, stumbling back against the edge of Vegnagun's cockpit as though she had been physically struck. Shuyin's playing ended suddenly with a painful clash of notes as he heard her gasp. Standing up, the blond man reached out and grabbed Lenne by the arm to keep her from falling.

"Lenne, what's wrong?" he asked.

The long-haired songstress turned toward him, tears streaming down her face. "Yuna and Tidus! The Empire is going to execute them!"

Shuyin's expression darkened, and he reached down with his free hand and drew his sword. "Not if we can do anything about it. Remember your new song?"

She blinked for a moment, then nodded slowly as realization dawned on her. "Yes…"

He slid his hand down her arm until he tightly held her hand in his then, as one, they faded from the heart of the Farplane.

---

As the stormtroopers prepared to fire their weapons, every Imperial and Spiran soldier paused, each of them hearing the same music in their minds. After a few moments, the Imperials shook off their confusion, despite still hearing the music, and returned their attention to the task at hand. As they did so, they noticed a glowing form had appeared between them and the rebel group.

The form materialized and solidified into Shuyin, standing before the Imperials in his fighting stance, sword drawn. Yet he made no move to attack. As he stood there, amazingly enough, a number of browned and dead leaves began to fall in front of the rebel group.

"_**When leaves have fallen and skies turned to gray…"**_

As those melodic words rang out across the Thunder Plains, the leaves all erupted into blue spheres of light, Protect shields that surrounded the Rebel forces.

Yuna turned her head to the left, looking to the side of the shield bunker where Lenne stood, her summoning staff in hand and used as a microphone through which she was singing the words of her song.

"_**The night keeps on closing in on the day."**_

A number of Imperial forces suddenly cried out in surprise and stumbled away from where they were standing, clutching at their helmets or their eyes. Some of them seemed to have clouds of darkness surrounding their heads, and Yuna knew instinctively that they had been inflicted with a Darkness spell.

"_**A nightingale sings his song of farewell.  
You'd better hide for her freezing hell."**_

Lenne's dark eyes flashed as she sung those words, and another group of Imperials suddenly erupted into flames, moments later to be frozen in their places. As this happened, Shuyin suddenly moved forward, running toward the centermost stormtrooper in the firing line.

He rolled into a cartwheel, his sword striking sparks against the rocks, then immediately went into a front-flip upon landing, bringing his sword up and smashing it down on that luckless stormtrooper, who fell back to the rocky ground with a cleave from his throat to his crotch.

A general melee erupted as Tidus reached behind him, grabbing the arm of a stormtrooper standing behind him and swinging the white-armored man into a rocky outcrop. Several of the noncombatant Imperial forces ran back toward the shield bunker as the Rebels suddenly turned on their would-be captors.

"_**On cold wings, she's coming,  
You'd better keep moving.  
For warmth, you'll be longing.  
Come on, just feel it.  
Don't you see it?  
You'd better believe!"**_

Kimahri quickly spun around, lifting a stormtrooper bodily and throwing him back into another of his comrades. Rikku ran forward, kicking down a stormtrooper and raising her blaster pistol, sighting in and firing at the pilot of the Imperial walker, her brilliant shot pitching the Imperial officer backwards over the side of the vehicle.

From all sides of them, fiends suddenly rose up from behind the rocks, diving forward and attacking the Imperial forces. Several of the fiends immediately broke away and began moving into the depths of the Thunder Plains, luring the Imperial forces out after them. Scout troopers shot into the plains on speeder bikes by the handful.

"_**When she embraces,  
Your heart turns to stone.  
She comes at night when you're all alone.  
And when she whispers,  
Your blood shall run cold.  
You better hide before she finds you!"**_

A half-dozen stormtroopers froze in their tracks, their soft flesh and tissue replaced by solid stone. As one of the surviving stormtroopers ran in terror away from the songstress, Tidus ducked his shoulder and caught the man at the knees, lifting up and tossing the soldier over his back. At the same time, he came up with a blaster pistol in hand and ran toward the shield bunker.

Yuna was already at the bunker, firing her blaster pistol out at the stormtroopers. She stopped as Tidus approached, pressing her back up against the closing doors of the shield bunker.

"Be gone!" Shuyin called as he ran forward, slashing his sword against a stormtrooper, cutting clean through the armor and flesh of the man's gut. Dead or dying, the stormtrooper fell to the ground as Shuyin skidded to a halt, then turned and sliced open a second stormtrooper's back with the backswing. He continued in that manner, taking down another three stormtroopers before finally stopping and looking around for more targets.

A Rebel soldier ran through a field of exploding blaster bolts all around him, taking shelter behind a broken communications dish. As the stormtroopers continued to rain fire on him, Paine ran up behind them, dressed in full stormtrooper armor, and fired her blaster at full power, point-blank range into the Imperials' backs.

"The code's changed," Yuna said, attempting to get the doors open. "We need Rikku."

"_**Whenever she is raging,  
She takes all life away.  
Haven't you seen?  
Haven't you seen  
The ruins of our world?"**_

Twenty more Imperials simply dropped dead where they stood, their life forces stolen from them by the words of Lenne's song. Many of the surviving stormtroopers began concentrating their fire on her, but to no effect as the bolts simply passed through her and began gouging holes in the bunker wall.

"Rikku, where are you?" Yuna called into her comlink. "We need you at the bunker."

"_I'm on the way!"_ the Al Bhed girl's voice replied, sounding strained as blaster fire filtered into the background of her message.

In the plains around the shield bunker, the Imperial walkers continued to pursue the fiends and scattered Rebel soldiers, firing their chin-mounted blaster turrets at any that came within sight.

---

Arren's X-wing narrowly dodged a burst of laser fire as he shot past one of their sea-bound transports, an explosion flaring up on the left side of the ship as a TIE fighter impacted with the ocean surface and detonated.

"Watch yourself, Gippal," he said. "Three from above."

"_Red Three, Red Two, pull in,"_ Gippal said in response, flying in on Arren's wake.

"_Got it,"_ answered another Al Bhed pilot.

A Jedi starfighter passing over the _Celsius_ exploded under the concentrated fire of two TIE fighters. Moments later, Red Three's LAAT/i swooped in on the TIE fighters' tails, firing its forward laser cannons at the Imperial fighters. One exploded under his fire; the other one, spooked by the sudden attack, evaded down directly into _Celsius_'s deflector shield, exploding on impact.

"_Three of them coming in,"_ Red Three said. _"Twenty degrees."_

"_Cut to the left, I'll take the leader,"_ Gippal answered.

Gippal's Jedi starfighter cut hard in behind a TIE interceptor as Red Three moved to intercept its wingman. The one-eyed man's steady stream of laser bolts finally connected with the rear of the interceptor, causing it to detonate as he pulled up toward the underside of the _Celsius_.

Gippal cut hard as he neared the airship, easily avoiding the green bursts of the interceptor trailing him. That pilot, unable to react as quickly as he had, drove into the shields protecting the ship's right rear engine.

"_They're heading for the medical frigate,"_ Gippal said.

Another Jedi starfighter raced past the frigate in question, three TIE interceptors on its tail. Suddenly, the rearmost interceptor exploded under Arren's laser fire. Startled by the sudden attack from the rear, the two surviving squints broke to the left and under the frigate, as the Jedi starfighter they had been pursuing veered off to the right.

Remaining doggedly on their collective tail, Arren dispatched one of the squints with a proton torpedo, then curved around the top hull of the frigate and fired two quad-linked laser bursts at the one remaining squint. As he came around beneath the _Airship_, he noticed that the big Imperial cruisers were still hanging back, not attacking.

"Only the fighters are attacking," he said to himself. "I wonder what those cruisers are waiting for."

Without taking any more time to ponder that, he arced away and back toward the battlefield.

Suddenly, without warning, a huge green burst of energy shot out of Bevelle, impaling one of their bigger transports and detonating it in a huge explosion that momentarily left stars in the eyes of all nearby pilots.

"That blast came from Bevelle," Arren muttered. "That thing's operational!" He reached down and keyed his comlink. "_Airship_, this is Gold Leader."

"_We saw it,"_ Nooj replied. _"All craft, prepare to retreat."_

"You won't get another chance at this, Admiral."

"_We have no choice, Commander Vale. Our cruisers can't repel firepower of that magnitude."_

"Lady Yuna will have that shield down," the Rebel pilot said, determination flowing over the comm waves from his voice. "We've got to give them more time!"

---

Five stormtroopers, having taken shelter behind a fallen rock precipice, poured heavy suppression fire against the bunker. Jake, pressed against the bunker wall and pinned in place by the heavy fire, couldn't get around to the shelter of the bunker door. He simply kept himself pressed against the wall as much as he could and continued to pour fire against the enemies.

Suddenly, four Lightning Elementals drifted up behind the unsuspecting stormtroopers, electrical energy already arcing and sparking between their disjointed limbs. All at once, the four Elementals released their gathered energy, striking down the stormtroopers with a loud boom echoing over the area.

"I'm coming!" Yuna heard Rikku call out. She looked up as the Al Bhed girl suddenly threw herself behind a rock to avoid the blaster fire coming in at her.

Tidus leaned out from the shelter of the doorway and sighted in with his blaster pistol, burning a neat hole through the head of the stormtrooper that had been trying to tag Rikku. Her path now cleared, the blonde girl jumped up and quickly dashed the rest of the way to the bunker.

The thief took one look at the control panel and shook her head. "I'll have to hot-wire it. Cover me!"

Nodding, Tidus and Yuna moved to the edge of the bunker and began picking shots at nearby stormtroopers. Looking around, Yuna carefully scanned the area with the Force until her eyes fell on what she was searching for.

Her lightsaber was clutched in the hand of a petrified stormtrooper a dozen feet away from her, out in the open where there was no cover.

"Don't interfere!" Shuyin's voice echoed out again.

Yuna looked up as the blond man ran forward and jumped up, kicking off the helmet of a stormtrooper and rising up into the air, his sword gathering energy as he did so. At the apex of his upward motion, he swung the sword down toward the stormtroopers, and several balls of energy shot out of his sword and smashed into the ground, exploding with the force of a half-dozen thermal detonators and scattering the dead or dying troopers in all directions.

**_"She covers the earth with a breathtaking cloak.  
_****_The sun awakes and melts it away.  
The world now opens its eyes and sees,  
The dawning of a new day."_**

Another group of stormtroopers near the shield bunker suddenly stopped attacking and fell down against the ground where they stood. Yuna could still sense their life essences in the Force, and knew that they had merely been put to sleep, instead of killed.

Taking her opportunity, Yuna ran forward, using the Force to boost her speed, and dropped to a knee beside the dead stormtrooper. She pried her weapon free of the man's grasp, then turned and ran to stand in front of Lenne, igniting the lightsaber and deflecting a blaster bolt back to the stormtrooper who had fired it.

---

Another green superlaser blast lanced out of Bevelle, detonating a straggling transport as the remaining ships of the Rebel fleet darted away from the city in a blind panic.

"Yes, I said closer!" Arren spoke into the comlink as his X-wing rocked from near misses of the _Carrack_-class cruisers' turbolaser fire. "Move as close as you can and engage those _Carrack_ cruisers at point blank range!"

"_At that range, we won't last long against those cruisers,"_ Nooj replied.

"We'll last longer than we will against that superlaser. And we might just take a few of them with us."

Arren led the Rebel squadron over the centerline of the nearest _Carrack_ cruiser, sideslipping and dodging to avoid the fire of both the Imperial gunners and the trailing TIE fighters.

"_She's gonna blow!"_ came a frantic cry over the comlink, as a flaming Jedi starfighter that had clipped the edge of the _Carrack_'s bridge spun through space moments before exploding. Simultaneously, the cruiser's bridge exploded under the combined fire of the following Rebel fighters.

"_I'm hit!"_ a LAAT/i pilot cried out, spiraling down toward the command tower of a second cruiser as the two TIE fighters that had been pursuing it broke off in search of other prey. Several soldiers in the LAAT/i leapt out, engaging their jetpacks to slow their descent as they dropped into the ocean below. Above them, the doomed gunship crashed into the cruiser's shield, not doing significant damage.

---

Kimahri and two Rebel soldiers came around a ridge line overlooking the battlefield below. One of the soldiers pointed at a distant walker, but Kimahri shook his head and pointed at another one that would pass close by the outcrop they were standing upon.

Scant moments later, the pilot of the AT-ST felt a thumping from on top of his walker, but shrugged it off and continued moving the vehicle forward. Suddenly, one of the Rebel troops leaned over the open viewport and made an obscene gesture at the pilot.

"Look!" the copilot said, pointing at the Rebel.

"Get him off of there," the pilot replied.

Standing up, the copilot unlatched the top hatch and pushed it open, drawing his blaster pistol as he did so. Before he could move, however, a clawed hand reached in and grabbed the man by his collar, pulling him bodily out of the walker and throwing him over its side.

The two Rebel soldiers dropped in, one of them blasting the pilot in the back of the head, then took over the pilot and copilot seats. Kimahri, who had not yet gotten into the walker, was nearly thrown from atop the vehicle when it lurched into motion again. Growling, he lowered himself into the cramped cockpit and pulled the hatch closed above him.

Ahead of them, another Imperial walker was slowly advancing, blasting at fiends with every step. As soon as their walker cleared a rocky outcrop, the Rebel pilot triggered the blasters, sending four scarlet bolts of energy into the weak spot where the boxy cockpit met with the rotating actuator. The cockpit of the walker exploded spectacularly, causing noises of appreciation from the fiends who had been under its fire moments before.

As the fiends turned back on the Imperial soldiers that had been following them, the hijacked walker continued forward, the pilot and copilot firing their weapons whenever they caught a flash of stormtrooper armor in their crosshairs. Imperial troops fell by the dozens around them.

In another area of the Thunder Plains, another scout walker turned a corner and came face to face with 8 meters of enchanted armor wielding a bigass sword. The Iron Giant's eyes flashed yellow as its prey appeared before it, and the driver of the Imperial walker halted his forward momentum, staring out the viewport at this creature that looked to be able to challenge their walker.

Without warning, the Iron Giant swung its sword, the heavy hilt of the weapon smashing into the side of the walker's cockpit and crushing it between sword and the rock wall that the walker had just come around.

A short distance away, a humanoid fiend intentionally smashed through a large rock, triggering a rockslide down toward the last of the rampaging Imperial walkers. Unable to check its forward momentum, the walker lost its footing amidst the tumbling stones and quickly attempted to regain its equillibrium. Failing to do so, it listed heavily to its left side and collapsed, the cockpit exploding as it did so.

"**_Whenever she is raging,  
She takes all life away.  
Haven't you seen?  
Haven't you seen  
The ruins of our world?"_**

As Lenne's words slowly died out at the end of her song, the last group of stormtroopers attempting to flush the Rebels away from the shield bunker paused for a moment, then continued on their attack. Not two minutes later, the lot of them had all collapsed over dead following the effects of the Doom status.

"I think I've got it," Rikku said as she deftly stripped two wires and crossed them together. "I've got it!"

No sooner had she said those words than the heavy blast doors slid shut, further barring them from getting inside. For a moment, Rikku looked as if she was about to cry, then she suddenly swore, "Cred!"

As if to further underscore her bad luck, a stray blaster bolt hit the side of the bunker and, reduced in power, blew through to tag Rikku in her right arm. Screaming in pain, she fell to the ground and pushed herself up against the sheltering wall. Yuna quickly spotted the stormtrooper that had fired that shot and drew back her right arm, reaching deep into the Force. She flung her lightsaber out, the same way that Vader had done to her, and was rewarded with seeing the glowing blue-green blade imbed itself in the forehead of the stormtrooper.

"Freeze!" a filtered voice called. Yuna turned around to see two stormtroopers training their blasters on Tidus and Rikku. "Don't move."

Tidus' body was blocking Rikku from the stormtroopers' view, and Yuna sensed through the Force that Rikku was planning something. She glanced down to her own guns holstered at her hips.

"Hands up," the stormtrooper said, which Tidus obeyed. "Stand up."

The moment Tidus got to his feet, Rikku's blaster flashed into line and she blasted the first stormtrooper in the chest, flinging him back away from them. Before the second one could react, Yuna drew her gun and fired, the heavy armor-piercing bullet smashing through the side of the stormtrooper's head, spinning him away as he dropped.

And then an AT-ST marched up to the shield bunker and came to a halt, lowering its blasters at the entrance. Swearing, Tidus raised his hands again.

But instead of blasting them into oblivion, the top hatch opened and Kimahri raised himself into view, a smug expression on his face.

"Kimahri!" Yuna said gladly.

"Get down here, she's wounded!" Tidus said, pointing to Rikku. Then he quickly held up his hand to the walker. "No, wait!" He lowered his gaze and met eyes with Yuna. "I have a plan."

---

A spinning TIE fighter, completely awash with flames, slammed into the shields protecting the command tower of a _Carrack_-class cruiser as a Jedi starfighter shot through the fireball and around the side of the tower.

Arren's X-wing roared off in the other direction, leisurely cruising up behind a _Carrack_ cruiser as TIE fighters shot past the snubfighter. "Watch out, squad at .06."

"_I'm on it, Gold Leader,"_ the pilot of another Jedi starfighter replied as he dropped in on a TIE interceptor's rear and neatly blew the fighter out of the skies.

"_Good shot, Red Two,"_ Gippal said, as he followed the Jedi starfighter through the corridor of fire going back and forth between a _Carrack_ cruiser and their own medical frigate.

"We're sure in the middle of it now," Arren said as he passed over the _Airship_ yet again. "Come on, Lady Yuna, don't let me down."

---

Lenne had moved and was now standing in front of the door into the shield bunker, lowered halfway into a crouch. Shuyin, his sword stabbed into the corpse of the last stormtrooper he had killed, was standing behind her, his arms wrapped around her as he held her tightly to him. The stolen Imperial walker stood directly behind them.

Tidus, wearing the helmet of a dead Imperial pilot, stood off to the side of the shield bunker and spoke into a comlink which he was holding up to conceal most of his face. _"It's over, Commander. The Rebels have been routed and they're fleeing toward the woods. We need reinforcements to continue the pursuit."_

As the blitzer received an affirmative message from the man inside, Shuyin leaned forward and whispered into Lenne's ear, "I've got you. Let's end this so that we can rest."

"Yes," Lenne answered, cupping her left hand out in front of her. "Let this be their ultimate end."

Shuyin also reached out his hand, cupping it with hers, as a faint white orb began glowing between their palms.

A few seconds later, the rear doors slid open and thirty-six Imperial troops jogged out of the bunker, only to be blinded by the intense beacon of light that had formed from the small orb. The light was so intense that Shuyin and Lenne could not be seen from any side.

Before the Imperials could figure out what to do, an intense beam of pure energy shot from their hands, instantly vaporizing the hapless Imperial troopers, and passing completely through them to burn away the upper half of the shield bunker.

As the Rebel group regained their vision and ran into the bunker with thanks to the couple, Lenne and Shuyin leaned heavily on each other, their ultimate dual attack having drained them.

"They no longer need us," Shuyin said. "We must return to the Farplane."

Too tired for words, Lenne merely nodded, holding tightly to her lover as they faded back to the heart of the Farplane.

Inside the shield bunker, the rebel group went around the control room carefully placing their explosive charges.

"Throw me another charge," Tidus said. He easily caught the tossed explosive, then reached up and planted it beside a fire extinguishing system before activating the timer.

Two minutes later found the rebel group running full-speed out of the shield bunker, with Tidus in the lead shouting "Move! Move!"

As he leaped behind a rocky outcropping that Yuna was also taking shelter behind, the open door of the shield bunker belched out ardent fire. A massive explosion could be heard from deep within the shield bunker as the entire Thunder Plains rumbled violently.

---

"_The shield is down!"_ Nooj called over the comm waves. _"Commence attack on Bevelle!"_

"We're on our way," Arren replied, turning his X-wing toward the city and kicking his fuzial-thrust engines up to full speed. "Red Group, Gold Group, all transports follow me." He paused for a moment to laugh out loud, then said, "I told you they'd do it!"

_Airship_ and _Celsius_ turned back toward Bevelle, the LAAT/i's of the Spiran fleet and Arren's X-wing leading the way.

* * *

**A/N:** Ladies and gents, the final battle has begun! From here on in there will be nothing but more blatant ripoffs of the awesomest motherfucking combat scenes that I have ever stumbled upon in my life. Let's get it on! 


	14. Chapter Fourteen: The Battle of Bevelle

**A/N:** I have recommended listening for this chapter. For the sequence from Lenne opening the portal to the end of the _Executor_, I recommend "Escape" from the Xenosaga Episode I OST.

* * *

Seven of Spira's fast-moving seabound transports roared past the Imperial blockade, heading directly for the beach that Bevelle rested upon. The eighth transport was still on the other side of the Imperial lines, slowly sinking beneath the waves. In the distance, explosions could be seen on the beaches as the destroyers that remained of New Yevon's naval force attempted to take out the Imperial positions on the beaches that would hinder their landing forces. 

Six transports maneuvered to go around the sea wall that was exposed at the low tide, but the seventh transport continued forward at maximum speed, impacting the sea wall and smashing right through it, the skids on the underside of the ship sending it airborne for just a moment. Then it crashed back into the surf, still going forward.

Five of the transports diverted to other landing beaches, while the one that had crashed through the wall and one that had gone around beached themselves on the sands before them, their front hatches blossoming open like a flower and disgorging already-firing soldiers. The heavy machine guns mounted at the front of the transports opened fire on the Imperial troops on the beach, concentrating on E-web nests and other troops with heavy weapons.

Spira's soldiers advanced under the covering fire of the transports, quickly forcing the Imperials off the beach and into the lower reaches of the city.

-

The tempo of the music Shuyin was playing had once again changed, and Lenne could see the shadows vanishing as operational lights came on all around Vegnagun's main cannon. Behind her, the huge weapon began to pulse blue as it charged energy.

"The end now begins," Shuyin said, his eyes shut loosely as his hands danced gracefully over the controls.

-

On the deck of the approaching _Celsius_, a dozen speeder bikes had been mounted to the jury-rigged ramps built directly onto the deck. As Jecht stood atop the platform they had erected so that all the first wave could see when he gave the signal, he crossed his arms and stared out at the approaching city, which was sporadically attempting to fire on the fighters and transports currently buzzing over it.

The revving of the speeder bike engines drowned out the sounds of the wind as the airship rapidly closed on the insertion point. The deck of the ship still thrummed beneath his feet as the anti-aircraft batteries mounted on the ship continued to fire on the TIE fighters and _Carrack_ cruisers.

Moments later, Jecht uncrossed his arms and lowered them to the side. He took a glance at all the red panels mounted to the sides of the ramps, that would change color to green to let the riders know it was time to depart. The time was at hand. Lifting his left arm up to his chest, he flung it out to his side.

The panels all flashed green.

All at once, the revving of the speeder bike engines soared into high gear as the heavy roar of the jetpack rockets was added to the mix. The four rockets mounted to each speeder bike produced a thick cloud of white smoke, which quickly mixed together and formed one huge cloud covering the deck of the airship.

All at once, the riders released their speed brakes, letting loose all the thrust energy they had been building up. With a roar that resembled a sonic boom, the dozen speeder bikes suddenly raced forward up the ramps, their riders steadily pouring on more and more throttle. As the bikes' repulsor fields left contact with the solid ramps, they dipped slightly, an act that was more than made up for by feeding more power into the rocket engines.

As they had been trained to do, the riders all stood up in their seats as they went airborne, the better to balance out the weight of themselves and their vehicles. For several long moments, as the rockets expended the last of their power, the riders of the speeder bikes enjoyed the sensation of flight in its pure and unadulterated form.

Then the empty rocket engines detached from the speeder bikes and continued to sail forward, as the bikes themselves began to arc down toward the Bevelle Highbridge. As they closed on their target, they each engaged their brakes to reduce possible harm to the fragile vehicles they were riding.

As the repulsor fields contacted with the upper wall of the Highbridge, the speeder bikes were all bounced skyward. To counter for this, they slammed their brakes on at full power, dropping them down onto the bridge itself and into the midst of the confused and scattered stormtroopers who had been tasked with guarding it.

As a single unit, all the speeder bikes turned toward the city and kicked their thrusters back in, impaling on their directional vanes what stormtroopers they didn't burn completely through with the blasters mounted on the front of the speeders.

Ahead of them, the gate in the city wall was still open. Three of the speeder-mounted riders lined up and roared straight toward the gates, firing their blasters to ensure that the Imperials wouldn't try to shut the gates on them. The leftmost rider gestured outward with a hand and a powerful blast of Firaga magic smashed into the gate, warping and deforming it, as well as fusing the hinges and effectively freezing that door in place.

Behind them, the remainder of the first wave had all drawn their swords and were riding around the Highbridge area, concentrating on taking out the Imperial forces. Stormtroopers fell by the dozen as they were impaled, decapitated, and run down by the assaulting forces, while return fire merely sparked off the protective shields cast around the speeders and their riders.

-

After releasing its first-wave riders into the city itself, _Airship_ swung around to the rear of Bevelle, where the palace and temple were located. As it came around and closed in to within thirty meters of the rear of the palace, the side panels that once housed the guided missile launchers slid open. The missile launchers had been stripped out, replaced with spacious hangars filled to capacity with more launch ramps and the Spiran paratroopers, equipped with the jetpacks salvaged from the Republic ships.

All at once, the paratroopers took running leaps out of the hangar area as more speeder bikes were frantically being loaded onto the launch ramps. Some of the paratroopers engaged their jetpacks right away, while others waited until they began to fall toward the sea. Either way, they all made their way quickly toward the rear of the palace and the huge picture windows that were to be their insertion points.

As they neared within ten meters, the paratroops armed and fired their grapple-guns, which were merely airguns that fired a length of strong cable with a grappler attached to the other end. The grappler had both magnetic and penetration systems to it, ensuring that it would secure itself to almost any surface and serve its user well.

The grapple-guns secured the paratroops to the wall not a moment too soon, as their rocket supplies began to cut off and recharge. Bracing themselves against impact with the wall with their heavy boots, the paratroops instantly began to rappel down the wall toward the windows.

The first man to reach them placed his boots securely on the windows, then drew his blaster pistol. He kicked off the window, fired three shots into it to weaken its durability, then slammed his boots hard into the glass, shattering it at the same time he let go of his grapple-gun and rolled forward into the room.

Standing up, the paratrooper drew his DC-15 rifle and quickly scanned the room, determining it to be free of Imperial forces. Waving forward his squad, he advanced in a crouch toward the door leading out into what he assumed was a corridor.

"Epsilon Squad reporting. We've breached the palace, no contact with Imperial forces yet."

Shouldering his rifle, the leader of Epsilon Squad pushed open the doorway and stepped out into the hall. No sooner had he stepped clearly away from the door than fifteen blaster bolts with the diameter of a blitzball burned completely through him, lifting him off the ground and hurling him another ten meters down the hall.

"Man down!" one of the other members of Epsilon Squad called, flattening himself up against the wall to see what had killed their leader.

At first glance, the paratrooper would have merely called it a stormtrooper wearing dark colored armor. Then he looked closer and noticed that the helmet was shaped differently and the armor was bulkier overall. The huge blaster cannon it held in its right hand, as well as the open tubes that seemed to launch rockets were also weapons that a normal stormtrooper wouldn't be seen carrying.

Before the man could shout a warning to his squad, three rockets shot into the doorway and exploded, instantly vaporizing the man and crumbling down the entire wall that he had been pressed up against.

"Requesting reinforcements!" the third man called out as he primed and threw a thermal detonator out into the hall. "We're facing down an enemy soldier armed with a series of rocket launchers and a heavy blaster cannon, and he's tearing us apart."

"_Confirmed, Epsilon Squad. Reinforcements are on your way."_

-

Lenne watched in slight discomfort as the darkness of the Farplane was quickly dispelled by the ever-growing cerulean glow of Vegnagun's main cannon. Before her, Shuyin continued to key commands into the control panel, his hands dancing over the controls as his body swayed to a rhythm only he could hear.

"All shall find rest."

-

Nooj stood on the bridge of the _Airship_, watching the battle in both the sky and on the ground unfold before him. Spiran starfighters and TIEs continued to race through the skies, their lasers burning fiery green and red trails in the air. He looked out across to the _Dreadnaught_, the biggest ship in the Imperial fleet, and the most heavily-armed.

"We've got to give the soldiers more time," he said, nodding to the Al Bhed at the communications station just as one of the _Carrack_ cruisers on the far side of the _Dreadnaught_ detonated spectacularly. "Concentrate all fire on that _Dreadnaught_ cruiser."

-

A wingpair of Jedi starfighters that had been shooting past the bridge of the _Dreadnaught_ heard the new order over the fleet comm system and immediately doubled back, angling in on the bulbous shield generator protruding from the side of the ship's hull.

The two fighters opened fire at the exact same instant, the barrage of laser fire burning through the weakened shields that had been diverted elsewhere. The generator dome exploded into flaming wreckage, creating a beacon of light for other ships of the Spiran fleet to be drawn to the wounded Imperial flagship.

-

The bridge of the _Dreadnaught_ rocked violently from the explosion of the shield generator. A crewman leaned over the station of the weapons officer, then turned up to the captain. "Sir, we've lost our bridge deflector shields."

The captain calmly turned back to the man who had made his report and said, his tones even, "Intensify forward batteries. I don't want anything to get through."

Outside, in the starfield, the captain could see two Spiran starfighters approaching. The forward turbolasers on the _Dreadnaught_ opened fire on them. The second starfighter exploded into flames, but the Jedi starfighter in the front was only clipped on one wing, and it began to spin out of control toward the bridge.

Seeing this, the captain quickly turned back around as his second in command pointed toward the out of control ship careening directly toward them. "Intensify forward firepower!"

By now, the wounded Jedi starfighter was less than a fifty meters from impact with the bridge. "Too late!" the second in command screamed before diving away from the viewports, followed quickly by the captain himself.

At full speed, the Jedi starfighter slammed into the cruiser's bridge, the transparisteel viewports unable to hold the force of the vehicle's explosion back. A huge gout of flame shot back out of the destroyed bridge as the cruiser suddenly lurched downward toward the planet's surface, succumbing to gravity and the lack of control over the engines required to keep it airborne.

The _Dreadnaught_ fell down toward Bevelle, its bridge aflame and explosions belching out along its length. It impacted on the superlaser mounted in the middle of the city, resulting in a massive explosion that swept up and hid both the superlaser and the cruiser from sight.

When the mushroom-shaped cloud of fire finally cleared, nothing remained of the cruiser or the superlaser. Half of the palace had been completely destroyed by the combined explosion of the cruiser and the superlaser, which had been built near the palace. What remained of the palace was awash in flames.

-

Corporal Church of the Grand Spiran Army kicked open the door of the civilian house he was searching and threw in the concussion grenade that he had primed in his hand. The stunning grenade went off with a muffled boom, and then he and his squad charged into the room, bringing their blasters to bear on the Imperial anti-armor crew that had been slowing their advance into the city.

No order needed to be given. With three quick shots, the Imperial threat had been eliminated.

As his squad turned to leave the building and continue their march toward the center of the city, Church's comlink crackled. _"Corporal, we're pinned down by an AT-ST. They've got complete cover from us but a perfect line of sight. See if you can do anything with that anti-armor crew you just took out."_

"Copy that, Sarge," Church said into his comlink before waving his men back into the room.

Keeping low to avoid being spotted by this renegade Imperial walker, Church moved toward the blown out wall and looked down the street in the direction he could see heavy blasterfire coming from. After a few seconds, he spotted the twin barrels of an AT-ST's chin-mounted blasters protruding from a building face, but there was none of the rest of the walker.

Finally, it dawned on him. He keyed his comlink. "Negative, Sarge. Merr-Sonns won't do anything. It chewed its way _into_ a building and must've had an engineering team drill it some places to stick its blasters out of. None of the rest of the walker is revealed, so they must be using some kind of spotter."

"_Confirmed, Corporal. We'll see what we can do about that spotter. You go knock out that walker."_

"Sir!" a private called from beside Church. "I see the spotter!"

Church turned toward where the man was pointing with his sniper rifle, and just barely caught sight of an Imperial scout trooper peeking over the top of a building across the street with a pair of macrobinoculars.

"Right," Church said. "You know what to do."

Nodding, the sniper settled down against the floor and stared through the scope of his rifle, aiming across the street toward the adjacent building. A few seconds later, the loud crack of the man's rifle echoed over the street, and the soldier sat up, grinning triumphantly.

"You got him?" Church asked.

"If I didn't, sir, he isn't going to be in too much of a hurry to go back to work."

Church nodded. "Good work. Now let's go take out that walker."

-

The LAAT/i transport carrying the shield generator assault team from the Thunder Plains roared directly through the middle of the aerial battlefield over Bevelle, green laser beams streaking out from every turret on the ship as the group's snipers attempted to pick off Imperial soldiers in the city below.

Ahead of them, a squadron of TIE Interceptors formed up and maneuvered directly into their path, surrounding the transport with a hailstorm of destructive green energy. In the cockpit, the pilot flipped the switch to close the transport bay doors, throwing the transport into a hard roll to the right as soon as the doors were locked shut. The TIEs' laser bolts sparked off the transports Protect shields.

Arren's X-wing, leading a wedge of Jedi starfighters, roared into the middle of the TIE interceptor formation, destroying three outright and scattering the rest of the squadron. The survivors of the TIE squadron immediately broke off their attack on the transport and wheeled in pursuit of the X-wing and Jedi starfighters.

The transport banked away from the dogfight, angling in toward the city square. The scene that awaited them was utter chaos as Imperial and Spiran forces clashed in the square by the thousands. Blaster bolts were thick in the air as they shot back and forth throughout the square.

Yuna looked out through slats in the transport's doors at the battle below them. Along with the blaster bolts, magic rippled across the Imperial lines, wreaking the havoc of all four elements on the stormtroopers fighting to keep the Spirans from taking control of the city. As she watched, a Blizzaga spell exploded against an Imperial speeder bike, sending the rider flying fifty feet through the air as his speeder toppled over and skidded across the concrete, bowling over another stormtrooper and probably snapping that man's legs.

Nearby, she watched a New Yevon Praetorate Guardsman drive his sword through the chest armor of a stormtrooper, then pull his weapon free of the dead Imperial and stumble in the other direction, obviously wounded. As the Guardsman turned around, a nearby Imperial shot him point-blank in the chest with his blaster carbine, picking the Yevonite up and hurling him back several feet with a charred crater where his chest should have been.

Looking away from the gruesome battle, Yuna crossed the bay of the transport and pressed her thumb against the comlink switch into the cockpit. "Pilot! Set us down here!"

"_Right away, Ma'am."_

She immediately felt the LAAT/i bank to the right, coming around toward the area of the square that Spira controlled. As it came in to land, the bay doors slid back and locked into their open position as the Spirans inside readied their weapons in preparation to jump straight into a battle. Tidus and Yuna stood side-by-side at the right side edge of the bay, both holding on to the wires stretching across the ceiling.

As the LAAT/i lowered the last few meters until it was at an acceptable position to disembark its passengers, Yuna and Tidus looked into each others' eyes, acknowledging the fact that they were both going into a battle that they might not survive. Yuna smiled over at him and thumbed the ignition switch of her lightsaber in her free hand, causing the blue-green blade to flash into existence with the distinctive _snap-hiss_ sound.

Tidus smiled in return, then was the first out of the LAAT/i's transport bay. Motion to his left caught his attention, and he saw an Imperial stormtrooper riding toward them on the back of a speeder bike, moving at relatively high speed.

Drawing the Brotherhood, the blitzer took the sword in both hands and brought it back over his shoulder, then ran forward in the direction of the Imperial trooper. The stormtrooper saw the blond blitzer running toward him, but was moving too fast to change his course in time.

Tidus swung his sword around, the sharp edge of the blade biting into the stormtrooper's armor just under his collar bone. The combined inertia of Tidus' swing and the stormtrooper's forward motion caused the blade to cut through the armor as though it were paper, slicing cleanly into the flesh and muscle beneath.

The stormtrooper collapsed backward off the speeder bike, blood spraying from the man's armor and pouring from inside his helmet. He hit the ground and rolled for a few feet before coming to a stop and laying limp. Ahead of him, the speeder bike careened forward and crashed into a park bench, its fuel system igniting and detonating spectacularly.

Yuna stepped off the transport behind him, spinning her lightsaber to deflect away the blaster bolts aimed toward the disembarking party. She turned a series of blaster bolts back toward the stormtrooper that had fired them, then lifted her left hand away from the lightsaber and gestured toward the wreckage of a Spiran TX-130S tank. The wreckage wobbled for a moment, then shot into the air and smashed down directly on top of the stormtroopers, crushing them flat in an instant.

As the rest of the commando team disembarked from the LAAT/i, she overheard a transmission over the short-range Spiran comlinks: _"Lady Yuna has entered the battlefield!"_

All around them, she heard a single sound rise up above the roar of blaster fire and the screaming of magical energy flooding the city square. It was a wordless cry of exhilaration rising from the throat of every Spiran soldier fighting for his or her freedom in Bevelle.

Yuna could not help but feel a rush of warmth as she realized that all those soldiers were cheering for her arrival. She had become a symbol for the Spirans, literally and figuratively, and her mere presence was a tremendous boost to the Spiran morale.

As the LAAT/i lifted and departed, she raised her lightsaber high in the air so that all around her could see, and then she began to run, charging directly for the Imperial lines.

The whole of the Spiran army rose and charged in her wake.

-

Far away from the battlefields of Bevelle, Lenne also felt a rush of exhilaration as Yuna's feelings washed over her. With Yuna directly leading them, she knew that the Spirans would ultimately prevail in their battle against the Empire. Like all great leaders in history, Yuna's presence would inspire the Spirans to great acts of heroism in the coming battle.

Closing her eyes, the songstress turned her attention toward the Bevelle palace, and the Imperial monstrosity that was slaughtering the Spiran soldiers that were attempting to take it.

Cupping her hands in front of her, Lenne focused her consciousness on the many aeons that existed within her spirit, finding the one that was most special to her, the one that would be most suited to eliminating that Dark Trooper. As she focused on the point of summoning within Bevelle's palace, she closed her left hand into a fist, raised it into the air, and then opened her hand, releasing the magical energy of the aeon toward the embattled city.

Behind her, she could still hear the musical notes of Shuyin keying in command sequences into Vegnagun. "There's no place to run."

-

In the same corridor that the Imperial Dark Trooper was camping, a black spot formed in midair in the center of the corridor, directly in front of the Dark Trooper. The Imperial ignored it for now, deciding that the Spiran troops that occupied the rooms along the corridor to be the greater danger.

Oh, how wrong it was.

Four sounds like that of fabric ripping echoed off the corridor as a quartet of tears shot out in the form of a cross from the black point in the center. Intrigued, the Dark Trooper now turned its attention toward the rip in space before it. The air continued to tear in a circular pattern outward from the points of the cross, as though being cut away with a pair of scissors. Finally, a full circle of torn space hung there in midair, and the space within the circle darkened into a black, swirling vortex.

From within the vortex emerged a pair of booted feet, clad in heavy plate armor. The figure continued to emerge from within the vortex, revealing a feminine form wearing dark blue full plate armor. She flowed from the vortex as though she were made partially of liquid, her body angling down until she came to be kneeling on the floor of the corridor. Her head was angled down, eyes closed, and her long red hair cascaded around her like a curtain of water.

She stood up slowly, rising to her feet, and rising, and rising. By the time she was fully upright, the Dark Trooper found itself looking up at this woman whose height had to exceed ten feet. Her eyes flashed open, the piercing grey orbs quickly focusing on the Dark Trooper and seeming to bore straight through to its nonexistent soul.

Her hands reached down to her right side, where hung a sickle and a long length of chain. The sickle she kept in her right hand as she coiled the chain around her left. She began to slowly advance on the Dark Trooper, holding the sickle loosely in her right hand. A cruel smile spread across her lips.

Recognizing her as an enemy, the Dark Trooper lifted the blaster cannon in its right hand and sighted it in on her. But before it could fire, the Dark Trooper suddenly heard the sound of metal clashing with metal, and looked down to find her sickle entangled around the barrels of the cannon. With a single hard tug, the blaster cannon flew free from his hands and sailed down the hallway.

The armored woman easily stepped aside, untangling her sickle from around the weapon with a flick of her wrist before turning back toward the Dark Trooper. Her cruel smile returned. "Shall we dance?"

-

"Mine is the power to crush Spira's despair!"

The hair on the back of Lenne's neck stood on end as a powerful charge of energy coursed along the length of Vegnagun's main cannon.

It was nearly time.

-

The tide of the Battle of Bevelle had definitely shifted in Spira's favor. What little that remained of the Empire's TIE forces were in full retreat, fleeing at maximum speed toward the shift in Spira's gravitational field that would allow them to escape up into space. The air forces of Spira were content to let them escape, and instead focused their attention on answering calls from the ground forces for air strikes, and escorting the remaining transports to deliver even more troops into battle against the rapidly-dwindling supply of stormtroopers.

On the ground, Yuna led the mass Spiran charge directly for the Imperial lines. Under normal circumstances, charging at the Imperials' well-fortified positions would have been suicide, but as the Empire was quickly discovering, the mass of Protect spells that had been cast upon those leading the charge was proving more than effective at keeping the Imperial blasters at bay.

And then the two opposing sides met, and became hopelessly intermingled as the clashing of swords and the scream of blaster fire increased twofold. Stormtroopers fell by the dozen, targeted by blasters, magic, and swords alike.

Yuna's rising lightsaber cleaved a stormtrooper's E-11 in half, and then she spun just as a blast of fiery magic shot past her and smashed into the stormtrooper, melting his armor away and incinerating the man beneath it. As she came back around, her lightsaber flashed before her, catching a red blaster bolt and sending it back through the black material of another stormtrooper's right eyeplate. The man twitched once and clattered against the pavement.

A third stormtrooper charged at Yuna in an attempt to burn her down at point-blank range, but a hail of blaster fire slammed into the man's torso before he could reach her. The shots lifted him bodily off the ground and threw him back into another stormtrooper whose blaster was tangled with a Spiran's sword.

Glancing beside her, she saw the soldier who had burned down the stormtrooper make an obscene gesture at the Imperial. "Get your ass up so I can kill you again!"

Yuna blinked at the crude nature of Spira's fighting forces, then shrugged it off and turned back to the battle at hand, catching a thrown thermal detonator in midair with the Force and throwing it back toward the stormtrooper who had thrown it. Whatever Spira's soldiers did or said after taking out an enemy was their prerogative, so long as they got the job done and eliminated the enemy.

By now, the Imperial lines were clearly shattered. One by one, stormtroopers began to come out from cover and retreat, running backwards so that they could still see where they were shooting as they left the square. Dozens more soldiers fell on both sides.

-

The armored aeon lifted her left hand up before her, forming a powerful protective shield of magic before her which easily absorbed and nullified the explosive damage from the spread of missiles the Dark Trooper had fired at her.

She grinned as she raised her hand higher in the air, and sent an answering wave of high-intensity fire back toward the Imperial soldier, intent on ending the battle quickly by rapid immolation.

But much to her surprise, the Dark Trooper ran directly through the field of fire, taking no significant damage in the process. It proceeded to lower its shoulder and smash directly into her, lifting her bodily and driving her through three consecutive walls. The Dark Trooper stepped back, causing an entire section of the wall and the floor above to collapse down on top of where it had smashed the woman.

The Dark Trooper paused for a moment, scanning over the pile of debris and wreckage before it. Determining that no human being could have survived such a cave-in, it turned and began to stalk away in search of more victims, its heavy bootsteps leaving craters in the tiled floor of the palace.

Behind it, the pile of debris shifted ever so slightly, and then a section toward the middle right side exploded outward, and a sickle attached to a chain shot out, arcing across the room and imbedding itself square in the back of the Dark Trooper. The Imperial soldier stumbled forward, then braced itself by leaning forward as the chain tightened and attempted to pull him backwards.

At the other end of the chain, the pile of debris suddenly burst out, and the armored woman stood up from within it, covered in grey dust, her armor just slightly dented. But a fire was burning deep in her cold grey eyes. "That _hurt_, you bitch!"

Wrapping the chain tightly around her left hand, she gripped it with both hands and then jerked backward with all her strength, ripping the Dark Trooper off his feet and sending him flying toward her. At the same time, she leapt up out of the debris and drew her right leg back. The two met halfway across the room, her heavy armored boot slamming into the side of the Dark Trooper's head with a tremendous crunching sound that could be heard from outside the palace. The Dark Trooper dropped like a sack full of tubers.

Standing up to her full height, she glanced down at her dully-throbbing foot, then over to the Dark Trooper, whose brains she had just kicked in. Upon seeing the gaping hole in the side of the helmet and all of the computerized circuits trailing out, she narrowed her eyes.

"A machina. Now it makes sense. The power, the immunity to fire, its strength… No wonder the Spirans were decimated by this thing." She jerked her head to both sides, the action accompanied by the sound of popping joints. "Still no match for me, though."

Coiling her chain back up and replacing both it and the sickle on her belt, she stepped out of the destroyed office and out into the corridor, following the sound of static. A few doors down, she nudged the corpse of a Spiran soldier with her boot, turning it over in time to hear a voice come out of the comlink. _"We've captured the square."_

-

Lenne looked up and behind her, toward the end of Vegnagun's cannon, raising both her hands in the air and spreading them outward as she closed her eyes. Out of the darkness shot a beam of light, which quickly spread open to reveal the Spiran skies above the western ocean. Far above, orbiting the planet serenely, the Super Star Destroyer _Executor_ was visible.

"At last, Spira will be cleansed," Shuyin said behind her, playing the final programming keys in preparation to fire Vegnagun's main cannon.

-

The bridge of the Super Star Destroyer was already a riot of activity. Comm channels from the ship to the surface were jammed with requests for reinforcements, coordinates for orbital strikes, and the panicked reports of stormtroopers being overrun at every turn.

Admiral Piett, standing at the bridge viewport, stared down at the planet beyond the prow of the eight kilometer long ship, the flagship of the Imperial Navy. Through the clouds shrouding its surface, he could see the rebel fighters buzzing the capital city. Every now and again, he could see a flash of light that marked a tremendous explosion.

"Admiral!" a bridge officer called out over the racket. "Something's happening over the western ocean!"

Piett turned his glance in that direction to see a void. Forming over the ocean was a void of pure blackness at least a kilometer wide and growing. As the void grew and expanded, he could see something within it. A rich indigo blue color, glowing from deep within the void. It seemed to take on a distinctive shape, illuminating and silhouetting something. Something roughly cylindrical, with pulses of blue light emanating out from standardized points…

He realized exactly what he was looking at exactly as the sensor officer called, "Weapons painting from below!"

-

"Now. Vegnagun, fire!"

-

At the same moment, all across Spira, the ground rumbled as one. At first, it was unnoticeable to the warring soldiers fighting across Bevelle. Then as the tremors grew, one by one, Imperial stormtroopers and Spiran soldiers alike stopped fighting, all turning their eyes toward the west, toward where the sound of the rumbling was the most powerful.

Orbiting high above the city from within the _Airship_, Nooj watched in amazement as the black portal that had formed over the western ocean changed color. Now the darkness had been replaced by an azure blue rivaling that of the eyes of God. Silence reigned over the bridge of _Airship_ as everyone waited for what they knew was coming.

All at once, a gigantic beam of blue energy shot out of the portal, the intensity of the light it put off blinding everyone who had their eyes turned toward it. The beam was easily a kilometer and a half wide, and continued to pour endlessly from within the portal. It shot directly toward space, angling up toward the Super Star Destroyer that was desperately attempting to pull out of the beam's path. But it was too little, too late.

The beam smashed directly into the aft end of the Super Star Destroyer. For a split-second, the shields of the mighty ship glowed a brilliant blue as the energy of the beam played over them, then the three shield generators mounted on the ship exploded, physically signifying the collapse of the shields.

Now without resistance, the beam plowed directly into the ship, melting away the ship's hull in seconds. Atmosphere began to vent into space as the beam continued, eating through bulkhead after bulkhead on deck after deck. Crewmen caught in its path were vaporized before they ever realized the danger they were in. On the far end of the ship, escape pods began to blossom from the dagger-shaped prow of the Star Destroyer like mold spores.

The glowing light of the ship's engines flickered, then faded, then came back on at full power for just a moment. Then there was an explosion along the bottom of the Star Destroyer and the light of the engines went out entirely. Now without its primary method of fighting the gravity of Spira, the Super Star Destroyer angled down and began to plunge toward the atmosphere.

This only brought the ship even further into the path of the beam, which continued to rise along the ship's sides, melting and burning away more of the ship with each passing second. Those escape pods that managed to escape the beam itself began to plunge into the atmosphere in a less-violent parody of the fate that was befalling the pride of the Imperial Navy.

Finally, the beam hit and ruptured the massive power cores of the Super Star Destroyer and the ship exploded tremendously, producing a bright nova of light that overpowered even the light produced by Spira's sun. Much of the rest of the ship was incinerated by that explosion; what fragments were left either drifted out into orbit or disintegrated in Spira's atmosphere.

Slowly, the beam that had been fired from Vegnagun shrunk, more than halving its size with every second. Finally, the beam shrunk down into nothing and vanished entirely. On the surface of the ocean below, the portal that had allowed the beam to fire from within the Farplane slowly irised shut.

* * *

**A/N:** Come on guys, I really shouldn't have to put in the surviving stormies surrendering. You KNOW that's what happens. Seriously. Besides, I think it's much cooler to end of Vegnagun's beam going byebye. ; 

Well, that's the end of the climactic final battle. Personally, I think it sucked:D It was nowhere near as long or expansive as I had wanted it to be, but I totally ran dry on ideas. Hope you enjoyed it, and we're not done yet! There's one more chapter and maybe even an epilogue afterwards.

And now, for everyone's favorite section: the shout-outs!

**MegIvanParagon:** Thanks for the support. It really was grinding the hell out of me. xx

**JinYuy:** You were saying?

**Morgaine of the Fairies:** Actually, I did have to come up with more ways of killing people. :D Notice Ele'sear's kick to the Dark Trooper's head? Haven't seen that before, have you? XD Nor have you seen an über-beam of death and destruction wipe out some 80k+ crewmen (not counting combat personnel) in under a minute. XD

**Neon-Ronin:** I bet all of "Into the Trap" made you cry. XD As well as the death of the _Dreadnaught_ and superlaser in this chapter.

**SevenTowers:** Your husband's probably going to think you're even _more_ crazy if you run around your house screaming "We won! We won!" after reading this chapter. XD And/or try to have an Ewok-esque bonfire celebration in your backyard after the next one... -sweat-

**ChaosShaman:** Hold onto your horses, kiddo. We ain't done yet!

xx I just realized that I haven't done shout-outs since like...chapter 11. Fuuuuuuuuuck. Back-log time!

**snowecat (Ch. 11):** I haven't heard of 'Knight of Spira' yet. I'll check that one out. Also, I've been hearing a lot about Ashbear from like...my IDOL, Peptuck, who wrote "The Gunblade Saga." It is the awesomest motherfucking novelization of FF8 in EXISTENCE. His Battle of Centra made my pants happy. :3

**Wolfy16 (Ch. 11):** I really have no idea about someone calling "Airship" "Highwind." It makes no sense to me. I mean, can the people not READ? Seriously. If you're confusing "Airship" and "Highwind" it's time for you to return to kindergarten. :D

**Furitarus (Ch. 11):** Hah, someone who is interested in the stories of Jake and Stev. Don't worry, there's a place for them in the New Spira. The next chapter will be 3 parts celebration, 1 part discussion of the way Spira will be set up in the future. And by future, they mean like..next week. XD

**Morgaine of the Fairies (Ch. 11):** My battle scenes are good, but Peptuck's are much better. :3 BLATANT ADVERTISEMENT! Hah, I owe it to him since I've influenced him into using so much shit from Star Wars in his novelization. XD

**SevenTowers (Ch. 11):** Actually, the practical joke was going to be something Lenne got Yuna and Tidus to play on Jecht. But I left that one on the cutting room floor because I had no real place for it.

**JinYuy (Ch. 10):** This is an important one, also didn't get posted before my series of "no shout-out chapters" If you recall, Vader had a bit of an inkling that she was still alive, but as I've said to others, the Yuna vs. Vader encounter was meant to fan that spark of light in Vader that Luke plays on in _Return of the Jedi_. Speaking of Luke, you notice that it took an Imperial probe droid to find the Rebel base on Hoth, and that Vader couldn't sense Luke when Luke was on a shuttle hovering right outside his viewport:3 It's not a big stretch to say he didn't sense Yuna either.

* * *

And for everyone who told me to use the character I had wanted to use in chapter 12(?), I think there's been a misunderstanding. The character did not belong to me. It was someone else's character, made to compliment a character of mine in a completely different RP, and that's why she didn't want me to use it; because the character was designed for an FF8 setting, not an FFX setting. 

But after I explained my idea for how the character could appear in both the FF8 RP and the FFX RP, using her own history that said character is cursed with eternal reincarnation into the same form, she was perfectly cool with me using the character, even though by putting it here and not in chapter 12, you miss a bit of backstory on the character.

The character in question was Ele'sear, the badass armored aeon that Lenne summoned to kill the Dark Trooper. The backstory is that, after finally dying off in the FF8 RP, Ele'sear, who was a guardian spirit there, was reincarnated a thousand years before FFX, before the outbreak of the Machina War. She was reborn as Lenne's sister, and was just as opposed to Lenne going to the front as Shuyin was, but instead of trying to steal a machina superweapon and destroy the world, Ele'sear volunteered to become an aeon, on the condition that only Lenne could acquire her aeon. Thus she became the armored death-bringer you see killing Imperial war droids.

xx Shiiiiiiiit. Now that my shout-outs and informational section is longer than the actual story itself, I'll leave you people salivating over the victory of the Spiran forces.


	15. Sorry kids! Just an update

Hoi guys, I'm still alive. This is not an actual chapter, it is merely an update to let you know that I am not abandoning SotE again. I've just been extremely busy since it's been the last few weeks of a college term, and there have been papers due and exams out the ASS. Also, I've become addicted to Ragnarok again, as you can see by the shocking truth that there is a story in my list that is ABOVE SotE since it was updated more recently.

Anyways. I promise that I'll go back to work on the ending couple of chapters, which will have shit ganked from almost every movie so far, except Empire Strikes Back. No, it will not consist ENTIRELY of stolen elements. This will be proven by the fact that there will be DIALOGUE in it. :D Anyways, I promise to have it up either before or shortly after I see Revenge of the Sith. Like I said to Peptuck, nothing makes you want to write Star Wars more than the biggest collection of PWN in the entire Star Wars saga this side of the upcoming Battlefront 2. Which, by the way, is going to be the best game ever. I mean, come on. It has space battles. Meaning? Death Star trench run. Escape from Hoth (probably; since the Battlefront 1 mod for such kicks ass). Also? Trade Federation control ship raid from Episode 1 (yeah, that one kinda sucked, but it's still a space fight, right?) It's fully confirmed that they will have the HALF-HOUR-LONG opening space battle from Revenge of the Sith. That's just gonna be bitchin'. And the coup de grace? **_BATTLE OF ENDOR SPACE_**. Only the single most AWESOME battle in all of Star Wars. Nothing else touches it. Hoth comes close, but only if I'm flying a snowspeeder with my friend Nick as the gunner, and we're proceeding to rape AT-ATs.

Right, now that I've got that blatant advertisement for Battlefront 2 in, I will finish it off before summer. That's a guarantee. :D

So now, I'll do the shout-outs for last chapter, the pitiful few. Guess there were a few reader casualties in that final battle. /swt

**madmaz:** You really thought it was that good? Sweet. I know it could've been a lot better. I completely ran dry on inspiration. Heaven help me, a whole ass of it will smack me in the face once RotS comes out. And it's going to be a final chapter that covers the celebration and the next day or so, and then I may have an epilogue with a look into the future of a Spira that's all Star Wars-ified. And heh, that'd be awesome if this could make it into a movie. It could be Star Wars Episode VII! Yeah right, maybe if Lucas wan't such a selfish prick. ;(

**Wolfy16:** Yep, you got it. _Highwind_ FF7, _Airship _FFX, _Celsius _FFX-2. Wanted to see Auron, did you? Yeah, that's one of the other things I lost track of in all the excitement. The minor-yet-still-known characters got no screentime. But hey, that can all be resolved. I'm considering a "Shadows of the Empire: Special Edition."

**MegIvanParagon:** Everyone gets shout-outs, dude. ;p Even you. And yeah, Vegnagun went Death Star on 'em. ; Guess what kids? _Return of the Jedi_ just got rewritten. There was no _Executor_ for the errant A-wing pilot to crash into, and thus the Rebels had a much easier fight. They still won, of course. Any fight where you get Luke and Wedge in the same action is gonna be a win. And I threw in the direct lines from Battlefront to be homage to one of the greatest FPS games since Halo 2. No, correction. THE greatest FPS since Halo 2. Sure, Battlefront is a ripoff of the Battlefield 1942 series from EA Games, but Battlefront is 3458349573985784 times better. Why? It's Star Wars. 'Nuff said. And besides, Battlefront 2 is gonna be so much awesomer than Halo 2. ;) Aaaand I said up there. It's going to be a mix of movie stuff and new.

**SevenTowers:** Ick. ;( That's bad. You let your kids know that Jedi Knight Yuna wishes them a speedy recovery. ;) Anyways yes, I hope everything's gotten better for you, and that it'll all be settled by the time SotE is finished, so I can hear more entertaining stories about your reactions to my chapters. :D I swear I'll do something funny/stupid/crazy if I hear that you tried to have an Ewok-esque victory bonfire, or something similar. Like get about 50 of your friends, put them in pieces of clone trooper armor, and tell them to party like they just won the Galactic Civil War.

...And if you do do that? Send me one of the sets of clone trooper armor. :D I would KILL for one of those.


	16. Chapter Fifteen: Victory Celebrations

The word had spread across Spira like a wildfire. By word of mouth, by comlink, and by the flyovers by the battle-tested and victorious Spiran aerospace force, the news exploded planetwide that the Empire had been defeated. The _Executor_ had been destroyed, the Imperial forces routed, and Spira was once more in their control. All across the planet, in every city and village, those who had not joined the fight for their freedom broke out into joyous celebration the moment they heard the news.

---

In Guadosalam, a young Guado boy ran through the streets of the city, heading directly toward Tromell's home. An expression of pure rapture was evident on the boy's face as he ran, his arms flailing at his sides and causing the sleeves of his robes to ripple with his movements. "We did it!" he cried out jubilantly. "We defeated the Empire!"

As he ran and shouted his joyous message, other Guado who had heard him stepped out of their homes, wondering what all the commotion was about. Each of them got to the point of hearing the words "Empire" and "defeated" before they too joined in crying out joyously, shouting thanks to the gods and clinging happily to one another.

Just as the boy reached the steps of Tromell's home, the Guado leader stepped out into the city, having heard the triumphant shouting of his people. He kneeled down as the boy skidded to a halt in front of his steps. "What is it lad?" Tromell asked softly, looking out at all the Guado celebrating in the streets. "What's all the fuss about?"

"Th-the pilots...!" the boy exclaimed, out of breath. "They just flew by and told us that the war is over! We defeated the Empire!"

Tromell took a moment to respond, digesting this wonderful news he had just been given. He glanced over his shoulder toward the north, toward the direction of Bevelle. He knew that Lady Yuna was there, as was the majority of the Spiran population. They had fought hard, he knew, and won their ultimate victory. Because of them, Spira could know peace once again. A great debt was owed to each and every one of them.

The aging Guado stood up as he heard the sound of starfighter engines passing overhead; he could not see them for the roof of the cavern within which Guadosalam was built. But he could hear them passing, and counted each individual set that he heard. Almost three dozen had passed over the city, and he could also hear bursting sounds from the air that he at first thought were explosions, then came to realize that they were specialized Firaga spells, serving as celebratory fireworks for the war heroes passing overhead.

---

In the port city of Luca, the streets were thick with citizens as the news broke over the spherescreens. All over the city, people were pumping their fists into the air triumphantly, embracing strangers they had never met before, and reveling in the feeling of their recently-rewon freedom. For the fighters of the Spiran army passing over the city, it looked as though there was one solid mass of every color imaginable coating the streets and balconies from the sea to the Mi'ihen Highroad. A mixture of the Firaga spells and actual fireworks burst in the skies around the fighters, a small measure of the gratitude that the citizens had toward the soldiers.

A LAAT/i pilot took his transport gunship down low, flying between the buildings of the city, with the bay doors open. Inside, a group of about twenty soldiers stood on the edges of the transport bay, waving down at the crowd below. The cheering of the crowd doubled as they did this, and as they passed by the sphere theater, they heard a loud voice call out above the cheering, "FREEDOM!"

---

Dona stepped out of her home in Kilika, grumpily rubbing at her eyes. She was not pleased with the fact that she had been awakened by all the commotion going on outside on the docks. As her eyes focused, she saw every single person who called the island home, including the members of the New Yevon that normally stayed at the temple, had gathered out on the docks, and were dancing around, shouting joyously, and acting as though they'd all just been handed a million gil.

Even Barthello was caught up in all of it; the big oaf was strutting around the walkway before their house like a horny peacock in the middle of mating season. That situation was quickly rectified by Dona's palm landing on the side of Barthello's head. "What's going on out here, you big moron?" she asked irritably.

"The news just came in!" Barthello replied, his enthusiasm not at all curbed by Dona's hit. "Lady Yuna and the others have taken Bevelle and destroyed the Empire's Star Destroyer. Spira is ours again!"

The big man's words momentarily stunned Dona. Naturally, like every other citizen of Spira, she had been hoping that the rebellion would succeed, but she hadn't thought they had any semblance of a prayer. But to know that they had won...

"Dona?" Barthello ventured, put off by the ex-summoner's silence.

Then, strangely enough, Dona smiled as she looked first over the crowd of celebrants on the dock, and then back to Barthello. "Then I guess that is ample reason to celebrate. You should have woken me up sooner, you big oaf."

Whatever reply Barthello would have made was drowned out by the rising volume of the crowd as two squadrons of Jedi starfighters passed overhead in formation.

---

The many celebrations that had immediately sprung up all around Spira paled in comparison to that of the one being held by the victorious soldiers in Bevelle. One would be hard-pressed to hear their own conversations over the sounds of the temple bells tolling, fireworks bursting overhead, and almost the entirety of the Spiran air forces flying through the skies. Confetti filled the air around the central square, released from the _Airship_ and _Celsius_ before the two command ships had landed to let their crews join the party. Bonfires had been started in over a dozen places around the square, and those fires had become main gathering points for the celebrating soldiers.

Gippal, Baralai, and Nooj pushed their way through the crowd of soldiers, accepting handshakes, high-fives, hugs, and congratulatory remarks from all around them, and eventually made their way over to the central fountain where the commando strike team had gathered. A round of hugs and congratulations ensued, before the massed group split off into smaller pairs and trios to discuss the events past.

"Nice helmet, Gippal," Rikku quipped, motioning to the clone pilot helmet he held under his left arm. "Maybe you'd have better luck with the girls if you wear it all the time."

Not offended in the least, Gippal took the helmet by its open lower end and lightly bounced the plastoid helmet off Rikku's forehead. "Hey, that was good, Cid's girl. Glad to see you've advanced beyond the realm of kindergarten insults. Next thing I know, you'll be cracking 'your moma' jokes."

"Owie," the Al Bhed girl whined, rubbing her head gently. "That hurt, you big meanie!"

A few feet away, Baralai stood with Jake and Stev, the two Imperial defectors, who were still wearing most of their stormtrooper armor, sans helmets. "Again, I can't thank you enough for all that you've done for Spira," the praetor of New Yevon said to them. "We are deeply indebted to you."

"Don't worry about it," Stev answered, waving an armored hand nonchalantly. "We'd been thinking about jumping ship anyway, but being as how we were assigned to the _Executor_, we didn't have many opportunities to go AWOL and find a local Rebel Alliance recruiting station."

"So we got one started here on Spira," Jake said with a chuckle, slapping his comrade on his armored back. "Just as well, too." The former stormtrooper nodded to where Tidus and Yuna were talking to Nooj. "I'd rather avoid tasting lightsaber anytime in this life."

The three of them shared a laugh that could barely be heard over the surrounding celebrations.

"I don't see how you manage to put up with it, Yuna," Nooj said, calmly as always, a short distance from Baralai and the stormtroopers.

"What do you mean?" she asked, her head tilted to one side in slight confusion.

"This is the third time now that Spira's relied on you to see it through its darkest times," the Youth League meyvn responded. "It must be growing tiresome."

Smiling faintly, Yuna shook her head. "Spira didn't rely on me this time," she said. "Everyone fought for themselves this time. I did no more than fight alongside them."

"Yeah, but the fact still stands that you're a symbol to the people, Yuna," Tidus said, then gestured to the square that they stood in. "Just look at that last battle. Before you joined the fight, it was a stalemate."

Nooj nodded his agreement. "And once you arrived, the soldiers followed you and charged the Imperials. They weren't waiting for the five o'clock news to end before they charged. Your presence was a tremendous morale boost, and inspired them to victory."

Yuna blushed a deep shade of red and looked away, the lightsaber at her hip glinting in the firelight as her body turned. "I wish you wouldn't put it that way..."

Smiling faintly, Nooj decided to change the subject. "So, you're now a Jedi, was it? That term that Skywalker man used in the recording we sent you."

Her color returning to normal, Yuna smiled proudly and nodded her head. "Yes, a Jedi Knight. With Lord Skywalker's help, I could perhaps find more people on Spira who carry the blood of a Jedi, and train them to become Jedi as well. That way this will never happen again."

"A noble goal, indeed," Nooj said. "Should you come up with a method of searching for these potential Jedi, the Youth League's resources will be at your disposal."

"Hey Noojster, why d'ya gotta be so selfish?" Gippal's voice called out from nearby. "She can use the Machine Faction in her search as well."

The trio looked to the side to see Gippal and Rikku making their way toward them. On their other side, Baralai and the stormtroopers were also wandering over.

"Actually, my friends," Baralai said, "I've had some thoughts on the matter. The reason why the Empire had such an easy time of moving in and taking over is partially due to blame that Spira is divided into a number of political and leadership power sources. We could have been able to coordinate a more effective, and faster, resistance if such a thing were not present."

"Wait wait wait," Gippal said, placing his helmet onto the rim of the fountain and flopping down next to it. "You're trying to suggest that we consolidate all three of our groups into one main governing body?"

"We had already been planning to do that, Gippal," Nooj replied, the voice of reason as always. "It was the lesson we learned from the Vegnagun crisis, remember?"

"Yeah I know," Gippal answered, miffed. "That's not my point. The point is, you remember how it was back two years ago when Yevon was the sole governing body on Spira. The people are probably still afraid of that sort of rule."

"Gippal has a point," Yuna said, looking between the three men. "However, the problem with Yevon was that so many secrets were kept, and so many things were covered up, that the people had no reason at all to trust them. But the people know all three of you. They know the mistakes that have been made, and they know that you're sincerely trying to correct them. The people have great faith in all of you. They will not fear a single governing power in the hands of the three of you."

Gippal, Nooj, and Baralai were all silent. They knew Yuna was wise beyond her years, but that was quite possibly one of the wisest and most insightful things they had ever heard. Finally, Gippal said, "Yeah, that's gotta be that Force thing of hers."

Yuna blinked several times and tilted her head to the side.

"She's right, though," Baralai said. "Even if we don't want to admit it. If the three of us were to consolidate our groups, and ask the Guado and the Ronso to join with the new governing power, we could solve a lot of the problems Spira has been plagued with."

"Aw, come on, Baralai, we can worry about that stuff later. For now, it's time to party!"

"Are you sure we have to invite Gippal?" Nooj asked Baralai, quipping against the Al Bhed man.

"Hmm, maybe not," the praetor answered, playing along.

"Okay, now you guys are asking for it," the Al Bhed said.

Suddenly, Yuna looked up and turned to her left, where she saw the Rebel pilot Arren pushing his way through the crowd, still wearing his orange flight suit, and with his helmet tucked under his right arm. But she could easily see the wide smile on his face, and through the Force she could sense that he was pleased about more than just the Spiran victory.

The Rebel pilot made his way into the group, exchanged a round of handshakes and backslaps with everyone, then raised his black-gloved hand into the air to get everyone's attention. "If we did not already have our tremendous victory to be celebrating," he said, "I would now be providing you with a reason to celebrate. I just received a hypercomm transmission from _Home One_ a few moments ago. The massed Rebel fleet that had been out at Endor to destroy the Empire's new Death Star succeeded in their mission."

"Good," Stev said, nodding his head in congratulations to the far-off Rebel fleet. "I was glad when the first one was destroyed. Superweapons like that have no right to exist in the galaxy."

Arren grinned infectiously at the ex-stormtrooper. "Oh, it gets better, my friend. Word like this may not have leaked far enough down for the stormtroopers to hear about it, but it's been confirmed by Commander Skywalker that Emperor Palpatine himself, _and_ Darth Vader, were on the second Death Star when the Rebels lit it up."

It took a moment for the news to sink in with the stormtroopers, while the rest of the Spirans were largely oblivious. Suddenly, Jake rocked back as if he'd been gut-punched. "Holy shit. That's it. The war is over. With the Emperor dead, the Rebels have won."

At that explanation, expressions of happiness erased the confusion on the faces of the Spirans. "That's great!" Tidus exclaimed. "The Empire isn't ever going to bother us again!"

"That's wonderful," Yuna said happily, turning her gaze to the starry sky, and wondering which bright point of light held the atomized remains of the Dark Lord of the Sith that had almost killed her.

"This will be big news for the soldiers," Baralai said. "Some of them have been worried that all we've fought for will be naught; that the Empire will return and destroy us next time. Now they will know they have nothing to fear."

"You got it," Arren replied with a nod. "And since the hypercomm message came with text _and_ audio, I had a little chat with the communications specialists of the fleet. Every comlink system on the surface of Spira should be picking up the news right about...now." He punctuated his statement by pointing to the clone pilot helmet sitting next to Gippal.

Taking the hint, Gippal picked up his helmet and held it near his head in time to hear, _"...Empire's new Death Star superweapon was destroyed by the Rebel Alliance fleet at Endor. Reports indicate that Emperor Palpatine was on board the Death Star at the time of its destruction. With the death of the Emperor, the Empire's reign of terror over the galaxy is effectively over, and the Rebellion has become the victor in the Galactic Civil War."_

A whole new wave of shouting and cheering rose from the crowd at the conclusion of the message, which was set to repeat for a few minutes to ensure that everyone heard it at least once. The single sound of exhilarating cheer from the soldiers blocked out all other sounds for several minutes, during which time Yuna wandered away from the main gathering toward a small open space near the LAAT/i that had brought the commando team to the square.

A moment later, she felt something in the Force that she had never felt before, prompting her to turn toward the open cargo bay of the LAAT/i. There, appearing in a washed-out blue color, stood Lenne, Shuyin, Jecht, and Auron. The four of them seemed almost transparent, and Yuna had a feeling that they could be seen only by her. Each of them displayed pleased expressions for the outcome of the war.

Then, as she watched them, a fifth form slowly materialized. It was Braska, her father, but he was not clad in the summoner's garments that she was so used to seeing him in. Instead, he was wearing a rough-hewn tunic and brown leather boots, with a long, hooded brown cloak over it. She knew, without knowing how she knew, that her father was wearing the traditional robes of a Jedi Knight. Then as he shifted his position slightly and his cloak pulled away from his body, she could see a shining cylindrical object hanging from the belt around his waist. She knew immediately that it was a lightsaber, and she could also see that it looked quite different from hers.

She felt warmth deep inside her heart as she saw her father there. He also bore the Jedi heritage of Juun Toral, so it was obvious that he too would have become a Jedi Knight. Now, more than ever before, Yuna felt proud of herself, and of the heritage that she had, and would continue, to live up to. And as she gazed into the loving face of her father, she knew for a fact that she _had_ lived up to her heritage, and that Braska was very proud of her.

A moment later, she felt strong hands on her shoulders, and looked back to see Tidus standing there, a perplexed expression on his face. He could not see them the way that she could, she knew. After a moment, the blond blitzer looked down at the young summoner-turned-Jedi Knight. "What 'cha looking at?"

"Nothing," she answered with a contented smile, allowing him to turn her around and lead her back toward their friends. But as she did, she turned her eyes one last time toward the quintet of ghostly figures, all of whom she knew was very proud of her. She knew she would see them again.

* * *

** A/N: **Nope, kids, sorry, it isn't quite over yet. I said there would be celebrations, promises fulfilled, and a glimpse at how the new Spira would turn out. This is just the celebration part. I figured that it'd be good to end it on such a powerful note. So now, for shout-outs. 

**Xephon:** Magic beat a Star Destroyer? Pardon me while I go bash my head against a sharp pointed object. :D

**Euphoria's Tragedy:** Yeah, I'm awesome. You can feel free to worship me and send me all sorts of kickass Star Wars merchandise such as Rebel pilot helmets, a fully-wearable, authentic set of clone trooper (Ep. 2 or Ep. 3, no preference) or Jango Fett armor, or almost anything else that is affiliated with the Rebel Alliance, like this nifty year-old t-shirt I got from Disney MGM studios that has the Rebel Alliance logo on the front, and the phrase "Leading the fight for freedom" on the back. ;)

Ahem, pardon my ranting. Anyway yes, I'm quite proud of the work I've done on Shadows of the Empire. But like I said, it's not quite finished yet. I still have an epilogue to do now.


	17. Epilogue

In the days and months following the defeat of the Empire, and the death of the Emperor at Endor, Spira had vastly reorganized its government and military structures. The Youth League, Machine Faction, and New Yevon had united to form a single Spiran Republic, and had extended offers of membership to the Guado and Ronso, offers which both Tromell and Kimahri had accepted in a Coruscant second. The first official action taken by the Spiran Republic was the rebuilding of the areas that had been devastated by the Empire's orbital bombardments.

A few days after a hypercomm signal had been sent out by Arren, the Rebel Alliance had dispatched a small fleet to Spira to help with the rebuilding effort, and also to allow the Spiran Republic to become an official member of the Rebel Alliance. Shortly thereafter, Besaid Island had been mostly restored, thanks largely in part to the advanced terraformation technology possessed by the Rebel peace corps. By unanimous agreement, and fully supported by Yuna, the old Yevon temple on Besaid had been replaced by a Jedi temple in which Yuna could seek out and teach any other Spirans who were gifted in the ways of the Force.

The newly-formed Grand Army of Spira had been divided into its army, naval, and air force divisions, and placed under the direct control of Nooj, Baralai, and Gippal. With the induction into the Rebel Alliance, a vast amount of galactic technology poured into Spira, including more advanced military hardware, as well as comlinks, holographic communication devices, and simulators.

True, the Emperor was dead, but the Rebel leadership cautioned the Spirans that the Empire itself was still very much alive, and still possessed of a powerful military that could inflict devastation across any number of worlds. To that end, the Spiran forces taught the soldiers of the Rebel Alliance the rudimentary functions of magic, and began training and equipping their own forces should another roving Imperial force decide to come calling.

And the Spirans also picked up from the Rebel Alliance the proud tradition of military awards.

---

Arren, Jake, and Stev lined up in precise formation at the far end of the auditorium within the restored Bevelle palace. Arren wore his Rebel Alliance uniform, complete with the new Spiran Commander rank insignia of three stars arrayed in a downward-pointing triangle in gold tone superimposed over the image of an X-wing, all of which was placed onto the background of a black circle. Jake and Stev bore similar insignia, only where Arren's insignia bore an X-wing, the two ex-stormtroopers' insignia displayed a clone trooper helmet, and the color of their circle was green.

The doors slid open before the three former enemies, revealing the length of the auditorium beyond. The room was filled to capacity with soldiers, pilots, technicians, and other various members of the Spiran Republic, all organized in two huge formations, facing each other, allowing a single corridor of clear space down the middle between them, directly toward the huge transparisteel windows at the far side of the room. Baralai, Nooj, and Gippal stood before those windows, the setting sun behind them casting their shadows down almost the full length of the room.

The three outlanders glanced at one another, then simultaneously began to march in perfect synch toward the opposite end of the room. On either side of them, the near endless rows of soldiers stood at perfect attention, largely unmoving. As the trio reached the small platform that had been erected, they heard the formations behind them turn face with a snapping-to of bootheels that echoed proudly off the surrounding walls and transparisteel.

Baralai wasted no time with fancy speeches. "We of Spira are deeply indebted to the three of you," he said, his artificially-amplified voice audible to everyone within the chamber. "Without your help, we would surely be crushed beneath the oppressive heel of the Empire, or our planet would be barren and lifeless, a victim of the terrifying power possessed by their Super Star Destroyer."

Nooj stepped up beside the former New Yevon praetor, taking up the thread. "In honor of your courage and valor, the three of you will be the first, but hopefully not the last, to receive Spira's highest military honor, the Praetorian Crest."

By now, Gippal had fallen into line with Baralai and Nooj, carrying an ornate box which he then opened. Inside were three identical medals that would be hung around one's neck. The medal itself consisted of a tri-dimensional triangle, its point capped with a curving half-circle, with the symbol of the Spiran Republic placed in the center of the triangle. Excepting the Spiran Republic symbol, that pattern had been the insignia of the Praetorate Guard during the days before the Empire.

The three commanders of the Spiran Armed Forces each took one of the medals, and the box was taken by a nearby aide. At a hand-signal, Arren, Jake, and Stev took a step forward and lowered their heads so that they could be awarded the medals. At the same instant, Baralai, Nooj, and Gippal placed the thick bands of the medals around the necks of the honorees, then stepped back and nodded.

As one, the three turned around to face the assembled crowd, which broke ranks first into polite applause, then into less-military cheering and whistling. The trio stood looking out over the crowd, and at once felt a profound sense of peace and welcome, as though Spira was the planet on which they were intended to be alive.

Behind them, Baralai glanced over to Nooj and, making sure his voice amplifier was turned off, voiced quietly, "I wonder where Lady Yuna has gotten off to..."

Nooj's only reply was an unknowing shrug.

---

On the other side of Spira, Yuna and Tidus stood in the council room of the newly-built Jedi temple, exchanging their marriage vows before a priest of the former Yevon temple. Yuna was dressed in a flowing, sleeveless white gown that trailed a short distance on the polished floor beneath them. Tidus wore a formal suit that he had borrowed from Wakka, and as a result it was a few sizes too large and threatened not to stay in place on the ace blitzer.

Lulu and Wakka stood nearby, Lulu with Vidina in her arms, and Paine was a short distance from them, trying none-too-successfully to keep Rikku largely silenced. The Al Bhed girl, overly-hyper at the moment, literally bounced from foot to foot with happiness, much to the annoyance of the warrior standing beside her.

The light of the setting sun streaming in through the transparisteel windows of the council chamber provided the perfect amount of illumination, silhouetting the two lovers against the windows and seeming to perfectly frame their union. The four witnesses watched the scene before them with a sense of wonder and accomplishment, as though a destined tale has finally come to an end.

Tidus took a step toward Yuna, their silhouettes seeming to merge into one, and he leaned his head down toward Yuna, who likewise turned her head up to meet him. In one perfect instant, their lips met, silhouetted forms fully merging into one. His arms slid up to encircle her small form as her arms slipped around his own waist.

After a moment, they pulled back for air, looking deep into each others' eyes. Yuna smiled softly, and laid her head against Tidus' chest, listening to his heart hammering within. She then turned her head so that she could stare out the windows of the council chamber, and knew without looking that Tidus was looking in the same direction.

Through the Force, Yuna reached out and touched Tidus' emotional heart, feeling the love and devotion that passed from his heart to hers. Smiling, she looked out into the setting sun, and for once, she did not think at all of Spira, of the baptism by fire that her planet had passed through. No, she only thought of herself and Tidus in that moment, of the future they had now, lying open before them like the golden rays of the rapidly-diminishing sun.

This was not an end to their story, she knew. No, far from it. It was merely the end of a chapter. And tomorrow would bring the start of an entirely-new chapter, and a brand new adventure. She also knew, without even having to consciously think about it, that whatever new adventure awaited them, would be theirs. Together. A new life was waiting for them, and she knew that they were both ready for it.

* * *

**A/N:** Now cue the starfield, the catchy ending tune, and roll the credits! _Shadows of the Empire_ has officially reached its end. Yes yes, I know some of you may be lamenting the end of something that is so leet, but I have good news on several counts. First off, at some point in the future (like, when Battlefront 2 comes out), I may be tempted into writing a Special Edition of SotE. ;) The other good news I will store until the end of the shout-outs/review section.

Also, if anyone noticed, I kept in the Star Wars tradition of having the final ending sequence be a scene without any dialogue. I just felt that I had to pay homage to the Star Wars franchise that way.

And now, shout-outs!

**madmaz:** You will be wanting to pay attention to the second piece of good news I have at the end. ;)

**Euphoria's Tragedy:** I was kidding about the merchandise thing. ;p I'll be satisfied with having undying loyal fans. ;) And psst...my Rebel Alliance shirt is cooler. ;p

**Morgaine of the Fairies (ch. 15):** Damn you for getting RotS a week early. >O Eh, that's okay. I got my advance ticket this past week, and I'm going to be flopping my happy ass down in a theater at approximately 11:45 PM on Tuesday, May 17. ;) And speaking of RotS posters, I need to get one... Too bad that there ain't m/any posters that feature the clone troopers. Because as everyone knows, clone troopers>all.

**Morgaine of the Fairies (ch. 16):** You try to steal my Rebel Alliance shirt, don't be surprised to find a wishbone (nickname for a Star Wars ship. try to figure it out) landing on your head. ;( There is no thieving of the coolest shirt I own. And in other news, you will also be looking forward to the announcement at the end. :D

**MegIvanParagon:** :O What story is this that you speak of? I could try to help, but I guarantee that my advice will probably be mostly garbage. XD

And now...

** MAJORLY LEET ANNOUNCEMENT OF D00M!**

It is not yet confirmed, but there is discussion in progress that seems to indicate that I may be collaborating with Peptuck, the author of the much-vaunted Gunblade Saga, in making a sequel to Shadows of the Empire that combines FFX-2 and Star Wars, again, but this time will throw in, and feature, Peptuck's rendition of the FF8 world, complete with his EstharHalo technology. More on this as it develops.


End file.
